The last of the Seasons collection  has arrived!  After the Autumn,   2 faces of Winter ( Desolation and Polaris) and the Spring ( The Petal Dress) it was now time for the Summer.

The generic theme and feel was something I had long in mind – fields, poppies, cornflowers – mixing the mythology and folklore images from a variety of cultures –  Greek Demeter/Ceres, Celtic and Slavic elements all combined into a Harvest goddess.

Time and life was against us this time – we unexpectedly had to move house, and trying to do that as well as keep up with orders, new online shop etc took its toll.

But when unpacking the boxes I can across the corset from our previous shoots ( you might recognize it from the Summer bride and from the Autumn Bride shoots! ) inspiration struck and we decided to do it after all.

From all the Seasons, this one was the least difficult and time consuming to prepare –  I was recycling a corset and the dress was a length of muslin  gathered at the shoulders. the headgear  and hair was made from the scratch – but altogether the whole outfit took about 4 hours to make.

The corset: silk underbust prepared – i stitched on gold net to provide base for sticking stuff through it

and wove in bits of wheat, etc found in the nearby field…

The same materials, wheat, the flowers etc formed the crown…

The hair was next –   the wig I had ordered some 3 weeks didn’t arrive and so i nipped to the local wig shop and got 3 packs of long extensions – ironically in m natural hair colour! plus some nail varnish, blue contact lenses etc. I plaited 2 bits of extensions and used the third one to formed the head….

and that’s how it looked on without the crown….

 and with it…

Make up was done with bronzing and honey colours – makes the blue lenses stand out a bit more!

and a few hours later, towards sunset we drove over to a nearby field. Lucas got the technical paraphernalia ready…

 and the results!

And there you have it –  4 seasons done and dusted! what’s next – well, toying with an idea of doing the Elements…. :-)

photography – Pitcheresque Imagery

clothes etc – Prior Attire

So we have got a new website – and it comes with a shop! Online shoo for some essentials has been on my to do list for quite some time,  and so I decided to go ahead with it. And your products need to be photographed, right? Well,  since we were moving house, we decided to get as many pictures sorted before we do so – and 2 long sessions have been set aside and done!

The first was a fun session with Miss Lilian Love – featuring our modern corsets – the elegant sheer…

and a cyberpunk/sci fy underbust – in a few looks!

Lady Darth Vader….

then a week later we had Anett, and Adrianne..

preparations…

and a few outtakes from the shoot…

after the shoot the girls went to bed…. ;-)

The  next day  Helen joined us for more fun..

and then Lizzie  got to model some more stuff too :-)

even I got to model one of our stock items!

and after all the shooting was done, it was editing time – photos, of course, by Pitcheresque Imagery

All the items here ( and many more) are  already available in the shop - but will get a proper post on the shop at some point too!

Many thanks to all our models  for their hard work, creativity and simply being great company!

After the  WWI event at Hereford one thing became apparent – I  cannot wear my original mourning outfit in these temperatures! it was only silk, but black, and having it drenched with sweat was just a crime. So for the next WWI event, in St. Neots, I decided to  whiz something simple and more appropriate – a light cotton summer dress.

I had only 1 day to do just that – recent house move meant I  had to finish some commissions early and catch up with others after the move – but I managed to save up 1 day to get the frock sorted. I had a lovely cotton with embroidered border in stock (  to make one of the stock item dresses…) and decided to use that. my inspiration came from a few fashion plates picturing a skirt and a bodice/jacket combination – you can see the board here.

The whole thing turned out to be a bit more complex than I had originally imagined. The top needed a sitted waist ( underbodice) with the looser , longer layer being mounted directly on it. I did not have time to make a late Edwardian corset in lighter fabric, and my black one showed through the layers – so I had to use my early Edwardian corset – shorter and without suspenders, but it turned out to work just fine. I also added some vintage lace to the borders of the jacket…

fitted waist under the looser layer…

The only pair of shoes I had, were my new Gibsons from American Duchess - and so to match them I found a scrap of beige silk in the scrap box and made a belt  to compliment the shoes – whatever as left of the silk went on the hat…

And so, the layers were –  The stockings, drawers and the chemise with a corset on top….

then the petticoat in light cotton and lace…

Camisole  and the skirt next…

And then the jacket. It can be worn in 2 ways – as a cross over…

or open in front, revealing more of the decorative waist…

back view…

 The hat was an original item, restyled just a bit – added silk bow, velvet ribbon , some bling and ivory and brown feathers.

 On the day I forgot my gloves – and felt half naked wondering around town looking for a shop that would sell anything suitable… Fortunately, lovely ladies in Beales found s the last few pairs of net gloves somewhere in the stock room – and they were perfect!

  Here am leaving for a day’s work on the second day – this time with a parasol as sun was merciless!

The event itself, ran by St. Neot’s museum  and Black Knight Historical, was great – we chatted to the public, recruited nurses, encouraged young lads to join up – and talking about the impact the great War had on the history and everyday life…

- and in between all that we sat at a nearby vintage cafe, enjoying amazing scones, tea and lemonade… If you ever are in St. Neot’s this place is well worth a visit –  Betty Bumbless Vintage tea Rooms.

 I also spent some time making sketches  – to be used by one of the local artists –  and it turned out to be a real magnet for the public, and inspired a few very interesting discussions about the war fashions….

At the end of the day we indulged in a little photoshoot session in the cafe – their first floor turned out to be a time machine – styling was mostly WWII, but generic enough for us to have a go at a few pictures…

  Lastly, we paid our respects at the local monument…

  All through the weekend the temperatures were scorching – and the new dress worked well – it was light, breathed well and I felt much cooler than in the black silk – success. in fact, it proved so popular that I got some more of the fabric to make another one, this time for sale:-). Considering the fact that in the next 4 years we will be doing quite a lot of the WWI events, I suspect I will be making a few more summer dresses, day dresses and walking suits… a few of them are already done, available in our shop! ore to come over the next few months….

 Credits:

 Photography – as always, huge thanks to Pitcheresque Imagery

 Shoes – American Duchess,

 Clothes ( my dress, Blue silk dress, and Lucas’ breeches (  try as I might, I simply couldn’t get out of making theses…) – Prior Attire

 gloves – Beales

Well, as much as I love flowing trains swishing behind me, there is no denying the sheer elegance and practicality of a walking-length costume. Considering that we do quite a lot of Victorian interpretation work in all seasons, particularly the muddy ones,  I had to consider making one that would not suffer damage when working on muddy floors or streets. Last winter we were hired again for Victorian Christmas celebrations at Holkham Hall, this time for 4 days; although I had already decided to make a nice winter polonaise with a train, I simply needed another outfit – and a practical one too.

The Christmas polonaise

A perfect excuse to make a walking dress, if I ever saw one, and since I had picked up some interesting silks at a recent market, the decision was made.

The inspiration – Harper’s Bazaar, Autumn costume 1883

Autumn costume 1883

 Materials:

Cotton for lining, 6m

Silk brocade 5m

Silk twill 3m

Interlining for the waistband/front vest

Antique buttons

Bones

Cotton tape (5m)

Velvet ribbon (2m – but cotton tape can be used here as well)

Patterns

Bodice: my own – well, I did adapt my wedding bodice pattern (again), experimenting with how to best  achieve the front with the ‘false vest’ effect . A similar pattern is available from Vena Cava (http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/1884_French_Vest_Bodice.html)

Skirts – again, I have adapted the pattern from my wedding skirt, simply by making it shorter at the back, so that with the bustle it was an even length. Similar pattern of a plain underskirt can be found here – http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/1885_Four-Gore_Underskirt.html

Apron front – adapted from: http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/1886_Autumn_Overskirt.html

 The Skirt.

If this is the first Victorian skirt you have ever made, then I recommended that you make a simple toile in calico, just to get the length, darts etc right. It is much easier to get the desired even hem when draping it on a dummy than when trying to wrestle with maths. Also, you can use the calico pieces as a template for future skirts, saving you loads of time.

1. Cut out your pieces (in my case: front, 2 sides, 2 backs, plus waistband) in top fabric.

skirt front panel

.skirt side panel

skirt back panel

1. Place the pieces on lining and pin together. (You can cut the lining first and then the top fabric – up to you!)
2. Cut carefully, but DO NOT unpin – leave the pieces as they are, pinned together. If your fabric is ‘slithery’, baste the two layers together.

all pieces cut out and pinned together with the lining

1. Sew in the darts on the front piece, and press.

sewing the dart

darts sewn, inside

1. Place the side panel onto the front, right sides together, and sew through all 5 layers. Repeat for all the other panels, making sure you leave the back seam open a little at the back – that’s your placket opening.
2. Press the seams open. You can pink the seam allowances to limit for fraying before couching them down – or simply fold under and secure them with small stitches. For the placket opening, simply fold the edges under and stitch on the machine – even easier if you are using the selvage as I did

pinked seam

back opening

1. Put the skirt on the dummy.  Make sure the dummy is wearing correct undergarments – a bustle cage or pad, and a petticoat. Pleat the back panel: knife pleats towards the back work best in my opinion. Pin the pleats in place and take the skirt off.

1. Prepare the waistband – either baste in the interfacing material, of if using a fusible one, fuse with the top fabric.
2. Pin the waistband into the skirt, right sides together, and sew. Press, flip it over, securing the edges of the skirt and pin on the other side – then  fold the raw edges of the waistband under and sew – either by hand or by machine.

1. Work the button hole and sew on the button.
2. You can add a proper placket – a piece of fabric to cover the opening; since my skirt is to be worn under the apron, the opening will not be visible anyway, so I decided not to bother in this case…
3. Put the skirt on the dummy again –this time you are working on the hem. Play with the arrangement of the skirt itself, as well – more often than not it will need tapes attaching at the side/back so that the fullness is contained over the bustle and not at the sides. Only once you are satisfied with the fullness distribution/tape arrangement should you have a look at the hem.

tapes at the inside of the skirt, restricting the fullness to the back

1. Adjust the hem length as necessary, making it even all around.  To finish it, fold the hem under and stitch. You can also add ruffles etc.
2. Since my skirt was to be used a lot, I decided to reinforce the hem by using a strong cotton tape. A ruffle would go on outside of the skirt, (though you can also attach it on the inside – both work :-)

pinning the cotton tape to the hem

sewing the tape to the hem

hem on the outside

1. Ruffle – mine is of the silk twill, with cotton lining. Cut the ruffle (3 times the length of the hem usually works for me). Place the top fabric and the lining right-sides together and sew along one edge.

preparing the ruffle

1. Flip on the other side and press, positioning the seam not on the very edge, but slightly up on the wrong side, so that the lining is now longer at the top.  Stitch the top edge together, cutting out the excess lining.
2. Pleat – Either pin every pleat, or cut corners- use machine ruffler (I love mine!) or a pleater.

pleating on the ruffler

pleating on the pleater

1. Press and starch.

pressed ruffle

1. Once ready, pin and sew your pleats onto the skirt, right sides together.

1. Fold down and press. You may further secure the ruffle by stitching it to the hem by hand,

securing the ruffle to the hem

ruffle done!

1. Your skirt is now ready! ;-)  – here the inside view

The overskirt.

1. Cut out the pieces in fabric (and the lining, if you are lining it).
2. Sew the darts into the front section
3. Hem the pieces and add ruffle or any decoration you would like to use

adding the ruffle to hem med apron

1. Mark the pleats at the sides and sew the pleats in place.

pleateing the sides

1. The back – hem this, including the placket opening. Pleat according to the diagram on the pattern, then pin.

back pleats (2)

1. You now have the apron, the back, and the waistband. Try the pieces on, pinning them to the dummy, or on yourself; Check that the pleats look the way you want them to . If all is ok, sew the back pleats and add the waistband.

checking the fit

1. Position the back and front pieces on the waistband and pin in place. It will overlap a bit with the back piece on top, this is ok.  Try it on yourself, or on the dummy, to ensure that the fabric hangs properly. If necessary, you can still change the position of the pleats.

pinning the waistband, note the back piece overlaps the front -

1. Sew on the waistband, and finish as with the waist on the skirt. Finish all buttons and buttonholes.

finishing the waistband – pining

waistband ready

1. The front pieces will require a tape, as they will pull the apron into position. Stitch a length of tape (enough to tie over the bustle) at each side as indicated by the pattern.

tape sewn at the sides of the apron

1. Your overskirt is now ready!

 The bodice.

Again, if it is your first bodice, do make a mock-up – do not rely on the pattern to fit perfectly well onto your corseted form! Needless to say, wear your corset for all fittings.  I made a mock up with two different fronts – one  sported one dart and the vest part sewn along the second one , and the other  had 2 darts and a vest added in a third seam. The first option worked much better for me, so I tweaked this side and used the pieces as a pattern for the proper bodice.

mock up, experimenting with different positioning of darts and vest seam

 tweaking the armscythe.

1. Cut out your pieces in top fabric.
2. Place the pieces on the lining, pin together and cut. Do not unpin – treat as one layer. If the top fabric is slippery, baste the pieces together. Again, you can cut in reverse order as I did – lining first,

cutting out the pieces – here lining on top fabric, front piece

1. Prepare the vest part – I decided to interline the silk twill to make the buttonholes sturdier. I also used the silk brocade as a lining for the twill. Sew the piece right-sides together along the front edge and bottom, press open, poke the corner, and flip onto the right side, press again. Pin or baste the other edges together and treat as a single piece.
2. Sew the darts onto the front piece first.
3. Sew all pieces of the bodice together, (don’t worry about the sleeves or collar for the moment), and try it on.  This is the last opportunity to make changes to the fit, neck or arm scythe shape, so DO take your time checking the fit.

trying it on – the front

the back

1. Time to work on the sleeves – sew the parts together, hem the cuffs and add ruffle, decoration, etc as required. Pin into the bodice and try on.

sleeve cuff

1. Once everything is in order, sew the sleeves into place.

sleeve pinned in, ready for stitching

1. Press all seams open, or to one side; pink the seam allowances ( or fold over and secure with stitching)As for the seam connecting the sleeves to the bodice – use a cotton tape to enclose the seam, a simple, neat and period technique.
2. Collar – place both parts (plus interlining) right sides together, sew along the top edge.

1. Trim seam allowances, turn over, poke the corners out and press.
2. Pin the collar into the bodice,( the top fabric and interlining but not the lining part) and sew. Fold over the lining and stitch, hiding the seam.

sewing the collar on – finishing

1. Now for the edges – either pipe them, or bind them – I made binding in the brocade and bound all edges apart from the vest part. Sew the binding first, right sides together , flip open, press and fold over the seams, then sew the inside by hand.

sewing the self fabric bias bining to the edges of the bodice)

1. Mark the buttonholes  and work them – either on the machine or by hand

marking the buttonholes

1. Sew on the buttons.
2. Pleat the peplum as indicated on the diagram , or as desired – and secure it with a  few stitches (or a piece of tape)
3. Cut a piece of ribbon for your waist tape, ( grosgrain is best, but other tight-woven ribbons about 1inch wide will work as well), and stitch this at the back seam. Pin the tape at your waist, at the seams. Attach hooks and eyes in front – the tape will take some of the strain from the buttonsJ you can also attach the tape over the bones – will work just as well.
4. Mark how long you want your boning to be and cut the bones.   File the ends and enclose the boning in the channel (here I used a few readymade ones).
5. Sew the channels onto the seams, placing the boning over the tape . An excellent article on the boning and waist tape position in the bustle bodices can be found here- http://historicalsewing.com/boning-in-bustle-bodices

bones in the channels, stitched at the seams, on a front pannel

9. Your bodice is ready!

Here the whole ensemble is worn at Holkahm Hall and Stoke Rochford, over the period undergarments.  ( and links to the articles on how to make the bustle cage and a petticoat )

With the trailer of the film running amok in the internet and showing in every feed, we were a bit fed up with the 50 shades of Gray overexposure.  I do sincerely hope the film is going to be better than the book, which was a serious abuse of my gray matter – those who have read it know it, those who didn’t – well, if you fancy a badly written parody with hardly any plot, no character development worth speaking about and seriously bored soliloquies  and dialogues ( blessedly short, mind you  ) – have a go, you’ll enjoy it once you realize it is a bit of a parody:-). Anyway, fingers crossed the film will be at least a bit more interesting.

In the meantime, we decided to have our own 50 Shades – but in sepia… Lucas  went through our few last stock photoshoots ( the Edwardian corsetry and Stock photography) and picked out the most tasteful/funny/ridiculous/atmospheric  shoots of historical lingerie and render them in sepia….

Here is Mr. Sepia himself…

and  his girls…

Hope  you like the experiment – some of the corsets etc are still available in our shop!

Many thanks to our elegantly playful models : Miss Lilian Love, Helen Radlett, Adrianna Renarde  and Anett Novak

Photography -Picturesque Imagery – you can find more  images from the session here

This summer Carlisle Castle has hosted a different royal couple each weekend – and on the 8/9th of August it was our turn :-)We were hired by History’s Maid to provide interpretation as Edward I and Margaret of France.

The period was familiar to us, though not in great details, so it was an excellent opportunity to do some more research and learn more about the social and military aspect of the late 13th and early 14th  century- as well as study the lives of the two monarchs in more detail. Here Lucas had a more complex task – at the date we chose to base our visit to Carlisle ( 1307, the second Scottish Campaign) Edward was at the end of a long, rich life – so a lot to learn about!  As Margaret was 40 years younger, I had a much simpler task…

It was a very interesting research – and it was great to be able to pass it on to the visitors as well – most of them arrived knowing that Edward, or Longshanks as he was called, is the king who had Mel Gibson, sorry, William Wallace, :-) killed – hopefully they left with a bit more knowledge!

As far as the costume bits were concerned, we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, as the booking came in when I was already booked with commissions till  October, but  managed to free 2 days  for working on our kit.

Lucas already had his fur lined mantle, hose and chemise  he uses for earlier periods – but he needed a tunic and a surcoat.  As it was hot at the time, we opted for linen in rich midnight blue for the tunic – decorated with bands of gold metallic silk, and a silk for surcoat – with metallic braid used for decoration.

Hair was a bit of an issue – we needed a graying blonde…  A wig was bought at a local shop – I trimmed it, styled it and it did the job!

original wig

styling – just before steaming it

result!

A crown was borrowed from the English Heritage staff , the sword came from Black Knight Historical, and the bling from Gemmeus – and voila, we have a king!

and the king in question on his lunch break :-)

As far as Margaret attire goes, I already had a cloak, chemise, shoes and a dress in wool – but there was just enough time to make a surcoat and a silk dress, and an alternative headgear.

There are very few images of Margaret, so I based the cut on the Codex Manesse garments – and recreated the headdress from  one of the statues of her.  Margaret wasn’t crowned – but she still wore a crown, and her seal shows her doing just that! – for the  original images for both Edward and Margaret, as well as clothing of the era, there is a modes board on pinterest

The hair was interesting –  the image shows curls, and probably coiled plaits which were jut becoming fashionable at the time – so it was a hairpieces  time for me!

I plaited my own hair, attached plaited extensions, coiled and securely pinned, and then pinned my own meager plaits around them

2 sets of plaits, work in progress…

then I added clip on curls – and pinned them around too.

The barbette and veils were next – and a crown on top. Or the alternative look,  based on the original image, a linen headdress with a frill and a veil on top of it…

a medieval selfie

and the other look -

and the whole picture

The  weekend passed quickly – we were at the gate doing the meet and greet, and priming the visitors for the royal audience when they could ask  us questions. The audiences were  inside the castle and  they were great fun – lots of questions, followed by some more in depth discussions as there were a few history teachers visiting too – fascinating!  The kids learnt about what a person their age could expect in the royal service, what skills and arts they would have been taught and what duties they would have had. Adults inquired about the manners, armour, tactics, food, clothing, day to day life of a royal and their retinue. Battles tactics were discussed, pilgrimages and wars were talked about, languages and marital strives were elaborated on –   lots of interesting questions.

The days finished with a Walk with Longshanks – a stroll on the battlements, talking about the castle, the defence mechanisms and the area around. We even had a chance to practice our French as there were quite a few visitors from Canada, France and Belgium :-)

And at the end of the day we were given leave to take some photos  -

It was a bit windy…. :-)

On the second day we took photos of Gemmeus jewellery and I changed the hair for a wig, to get thea ‘ Codex Manesse’ look :-)

silk dress with a stylised bridal belt from Gemmeus

In short – the whole event was both enjoyable and educative – the best kind, well worth the long drive there:-) – many thanks to all who made it possible  – greatly appreciated:-)

and the credits

History’s Maid

Carlisle Castle

Black Knight Historical

 Gemmeus

 Prior Attire

Pitcheresque photography

French hoods, the bejewelled headpieces of the Tudor era, seem to be one of the most mysterious and difficult to recreate items – a real challenge for any Tudor re-enactor wanting to portray an upper class persona. Throughout the last few decades a number of patterns and a number of ideas has been employed to recreate the look – some more successful than the others, some less. The main problems lies in the lack of evidence other than pictorial one – to my knowledge, not one of the headdresses we now call French hoods has survived to our times. There are surviving examples of the wire base used for the gable hoods, but not a single one that would cast some illuminating light on the construction of the French ones.  The only way then, it seems, is to rely on the portraits and accounts of the era, which, though immensely helpful, seem to be insufficient to resolve the burning issue once and for all – how  were the things made and how they stayed on the heads!

In the present article I will briefly discuss the origins or the history of the hoods and then proceed to show how Prior Attire hoods are made.   I do not pretend to come up with the pattern I have been using, and a full credit is given to the ones who did, nor will I claim that the method we employ is the best ever – I am confident it is only one of many, and it just happens that it has worked best for me and my customers. The purpose of the article is to show, step by step, how to achieve the creation – and for that you may want to buy the commercial pattern, as it will help you a great deal, but it is by no means necessary.

In my career I have come across several different solutions to the problem, and indeed a few of them seem to be working just fine. The two most popular for the last two years have been the following:

1. All elements ( coif, paste, veil, crescent) are separate and are pinned together on the wearer’s head –  and the method has been discussed in great detail in an excellent article by another costumier, Sarah Lorraine (http://yourwardrobeunlockd.com/articles/historicalperiods/medievalrenaissance/280-reconstructing-the-french-hood-by-sarah-lorraine) )
2. The Tudor Tailor’s way – the elements are stitched together in a sturdy headdress – with a few items being removable as needs be (coif, bongrace, separate billiment). The idea is not new, as I managed to dig out the references to it in an earlier publication by Denise Dreher, but is now enjoying a well deserved revival.

I believe that in the 16^th century there wasn’t just one pattern for the hood – ladies were making do with different arrangements, striving to achieve the fashionable look by a variety of means and no doubt women across the world are doing the same nowadays. For me the latter way really worked as a way of making a headdress that is historically correct, easy to wear, looks good and most importantly, stays on my head.

 The genesis of the French hood.

It is becoming more and more evident how the English, or gable hood evolved on the UK, transforming from the open hoods into bonnets with paste and frontlets, and then in the most iconic form known from the portraits of  Jane Seymour or  the More family.

Similarly, it is possible to trace the evolution of the French hood – though it must be noted that its origins seem to be developed on the continent rather than in England.   Although they derive from the same ancestor, an open hood worn in the last decades of the 15^th century, the evolution took the headdress two separate ways. In England, the front of the hood became stiffened, and started to fold in the middle over the forehead, creating a point (style also worn with some hennins). With further stiffening and additional decoration of the brim, the gable shape started to emerge – first with the long frontlet, laying on a stiffened and decorated paste, then with the paste shortened, frontlets folded back and pinned to the crown and divided veils.

Charles d’Angoulême et Louise de Savoie jouant aux échecs

On the continent, the hood was also changing at the time, but the emphasis was on the roundness – the stiffened and decorated part of the hood followed the shape of the head, eliminating any possibility of the rectangular shape of the English bonnet.  The beginnings can be seen in the portraits of Anne of Brittany or even Katherine of Aragon, who, contrary to common misconception, did wear the early version of the French hood as well.

Katherine of Aragon, Michael Sittow,

  Anne of Brittany, Jean Perreal

daughter of emp maximilianI

Margaret aged ten by Jean Hey,

 With time, various elements were added and new styles were developed – ornaments and basic shapes of the crescent changed, the veil changed through the decades and the hairstyles changed as well – but the most recognizable style of the French hood seems to have persevered through many decades, starting as a simple hood and transforming into one of the most complex headdresses.

Materials:

Buckram (linen or hessian) 0.5m

Wire – 2m

White linen – 1m

Veil – black velvet or satin, 0.5m

Silk for the paste and the crescent, can be the same colour, can be different. Silk taffetas, satins and velvets work best. The most common colours were white, black, tawny-gold, though reds and colours coordinated with the gown were also in evidence. You will need very little; 0.5m for both in the same colour is ample.

Silk organza – a thin strip (fine linen also works)

Linen and silk threads

Ornaments – freshwater pearls,  lass beads, metal beads, gems –   depends on style.

Thimble, pliers, wire cutters, different size needles, including a curved one

A scrap of silk velvet or wool for cushioning the inside of the paste.

A bit of cardboard for mock up

Pattern:

I used an adapted pattern from the Tudor tailor book. The pattern is available in hard copy http://www.tudortailor.com/patternshop.shtml

 Method

It is a good idea to make a mock up of the pattern in cardboard or stiff paper – just to see how it lies on your head. The paste part is the most important as it provides the base for the whole construction. It should sit on your head snugly, with the front parts resting just below your cheekbones, and the back ‘wings’ cradling your head. Remember to make sure your hair is coiled in a bun or a plaited into one at the top back of your head- it provides additional support for the hood. If your hair is short, it is worthwhile to get a basic plait extension – coiled and pinned, it will do the job just as well. Depending on the shape of your head that should be sufficient to keep the hood on very securely. For very heavy hoods with lots of bling on them, I find I need to pin them just over the ears as well.

Experiment with the mock up till you find the best fit and adapt your pattern accordingly.

1. Cut out the pattern shapes for the paste and the crescent in buckram. No seam allowances are necessary.

The paste cut out.

2. Cut out the pieces : in linen – 2 of each, with an inch seam allowance all around; in silk, 1 of each, with the same seam allowance
3. Put the fabric pieces aside for the time being- the buckram pieces need to be wired first.
4. Cut a length of wire – should be enough to go all around the paste, with a little overlap. Sew on the wire to the edge of the buckram – you can do it by hand, with a strong linen thread, or on a machine. If using the machine, set it to a wide zig-zag stitch and sew, slowly and carefully, making sure the needle goes down on both sides of the wire, and not into it. Do not hasten the process– it will most likely result in broken needles…

2. As you near any corner, use the pliers to bend the wire around it.

Paste with the wire sewn on by a machine

And the crescent with the wire

6. Pin the back ends of the paste together and try it on. You will most likely notice that the buckram squashes your ears or at least feels unpleasant – take note of the areas and mark them on the buckram – they are the places that will need some cushioning to make the hood comfortable to wear.
7. Cur small rectangles of wool or velvet – any thick and smooth fabric will work well. Fold it and stitch it to the inside of the buckram where your ears will be.

The ‘ear protectors’ stitched in to the inside of the paste

8. You are now ready to cover the outside of the paste with linen. Pin the linen layer to the paste, folding the seam allowances over onto the inside. Stitch around, keeping the fabric taut and secure – remember that it will not be seen as the silk layer will go over it, but if your silk is thin, try to keep your stitches small so that they do not show through it.

The paste covered with linen

9. Once the linen base is in place, you can cover the outside with your fashion fabric – it can be silk taffeta, velvet or satin. Again, fold the seam allowances under and stitch carefully, ensuring the fabric lies smooth on the curved surfaces and that the corners are well defined.

Paste covered with black velvet

1. Next step – pleated frill. You can skip it if you plan to wear a coif with a frill. If your coif has plain edges, you can add the pleated strip to the hood.
2. Cut a length or organza (utilising the selvage, if you can – if not, you will need to hem it) and pleat it in even knife or small box pleats, securing each pleat with a pin.

Once you have enough to fill in the front of the hood, secure the pleats with a simple stitch, pin the trip onto the ironing board and set it with steam. Do test the fabric first to see if you can iron it – if yes, go ahead, if no, just steam.

2. Pin the strip to the inside of the paste, so that only about half an inch extends beyond the paste. Sew it onto to paste, at the back, and carefully, at the front, making sure you catch the fabric folded under but not going all the way through all the layers.

Frill pinned and stitched on

3. Leave the paste aside for the time being – it is easier to line it later on, once the crescent is attached.

Time to work on the crescent.

4. Cover the outside of the wired crescent first with linen, and then with your fashion fabric, just like you did with the paste.

Crescent covered – outside view

And inside

If you plan to decorate the crescent by sewing the ornamentation directly, do it now.

Decoration options: you can stitch each individual bead and pearl directly – useful particularly if you are planning a more elaborate decoration option. Alternatively, if your embellishment is just a single row, you can string all of the beads etc on one thread, and then simply stitch between them, securing the string onto the crescent.

Once the decoration is attached, line the crescent with the other piece of linen. Pin the piece around and stitch carefully so that it doesn’t peek from the underside

.

Stitching the lining to the crescent

 You are now ready to tackle the most difficult task of all: attaching the crescent onto the paste,

If you have vice, it may come useful, but a spare pair of hands or long pins could do the job just as well.

Mark the centre points on both paste and crescent. Pin them together, and continue pinning at the sides so that the crescent is in position.

Crescent pinned

Sew with needle (curved ones are best for the purpose) threaded with strong thread, catching both items. It helps if you first place a few strong stitches at both sides of the crescent – hidden by the decoration, they will not be seam, but they will go through all the layers of the crescent and the paste. They are the main anchor. Continue along the edge of the crescent, catching the crescent’s fabrics and going through the paste, the stitches will show a bit – but you can cover them later with more decoration.

Using normal needle – and a curved one, below

5. The two pieces are now in place – so the worst part is done! You can now decorate the paste with your choice of embellishment –braid, pearls etc.

Pearls sewn onto the paste, covering the stitches.

6. Line the paste with the last bit of linen.  The stitching will have to be careful and require some dexterity since the shape of the hood is now slowly emerging and you have to deal with concave and convex surfaces – again, a vice or a third hand can be useful. Pin the lining in first:

Then sew with small stitches

Lined hood

7. Time to connect the back ends of the hood; pin them first, so that they overlap a bit, and try the hood on. Again, remember to arrange your hair as described previously.   Make any necessary arrangements until the hood feels secure.  Once satisfied, take it off and sew with strong thread, connecting the two parts. Since you will be going through all the layers doubled, you will need a thicker and stronger needle, and possibly pliers too, to help you draw the needle through.

Trying the hood on

Last bit – the veil.

Cut the veil in silk satin, silk velvet or taffeta. Sew the back seam and hem the edges.

Pin the veil to the hood – mark the centre top first and pin that first, then pin the sides onto the crescent. Where the crescent merges with the paste, pin the veil onto the past, so that it goes smoothly in one circle.

Pinning the bottom centres together

Hood pinned

 Sew with small stitches – again, a bit of manual acrobatics will be necessary, but it can be done – with experience you will work out which way of holding the hood works for you. Again, a curved needle is a blessing!

Sewing the veil on…

And the hood is ready!

Optional: if you plan to sew the crescent billiment onto a separate base, you can do it as the last step.

Cut a narrow strip of buckram, mirroring the shape of the upper edge of the crescent. Wire it, cover with lining and fashion fabric just like the other items before. Attach any decoration and pin the billiment onto the hood – it can sit on the top of the veil too. Attach the billiment.

Hood in silk velvet with a separate billiment:

Other examples of hoods:

Silk taffeta base and crescent, silk satin veil, freshwater pearls and metal beads decoration on the upper billiment, gold metal braid on the lower

 Silk satin base and crescent, freshwater pearl and garnet beads decoration, silk satin veil

Silk velvet base and taffeta crescent, satin veil, freshwater pearls and gold braid decoration

your turn now! :-0

And if you need a gown to go with these –  How to make a Tudor Gown, and Katherine of Aragon gown…

Bibliography

Boucher, François. A History of Costume in the West, Thames & Hudson; Enlarged edition (23 Sep 1996)

Mikhaila, Ninya and Malcolm-Davies, Jane. The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing sixteenth–century dress. London: Batsford, 2006.

Caroline Johnson,  The Queen’s servants, Fat Goose Press, 2011

Hayward, Maria. Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII. Leeds: Maney, 2007.

 References:

Boucher François,  A history of Costume in the West, Thames & Hudson; Enlarged edition edition (23 Sep 1996)

Denise Dreher, Fromm the Neck up; An illustrated guide to hat making, Madhatter Press

Mikhaila, Ninya and Malcolm-Davies, Jane. The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing sixteenth–century dress. London: Batsford, 2006.

Caroline Johnson,  The Queen’s servants, Fat Goose Press, 2011

Hayward, Maria. Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII. Leeds: Maney, 2007.

Medieval & Renaissance

1-Sarah Lorraine, “A Lady’s French Hood”, Mode Historique, 2002.

Pray excuse my blatant use of the original, unofficial title of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, but it was exceedingly appropriate here for once :-)

Let me explain.

Last weekend we partook of a Regency Ball in Bath – marking the end of the week-long festivities going on there during the 14th annual Jane Austen festival. It was our first ball there, and my first visit to Bath –  Regency is not my favourite period and I felt that I couldn’t be bothered to make something specifically for the occasion, but as last December  I had to make an evening gown for the 1820 Christmas feature for NBC (details here), I thought – I have the frock, I might just as well use it! Since Lucas had appropriate kit ( his wedding gear plus a pair of new breeches I cobbled together ), the decision was made and tickets were bought.

More on the clothes that I finally did make in other posts –  today we are looking at our own ‘First Impressions’…

The Ball was a fantastic event- even better, there was a dance practice in the afternoon, preparing us for the exertions of the evening, and the town was lovely – especially the gardens. In the evening there were about 200 people strolling around, dancing, drinking, playing cards and other games – a very convivial evening. The food was fantastic and there was plenty of it, and the musicians excelled.

All together, a perfect evening – we danced until we could hardly walk, we talked and laughed ’til we couldn’t speak and generally had fun.

Of course, all through the evening,  my professional costumier’s eye was noting the details of the clothes being worn. Naturally, there were no ‘authenticity police’ rigorously barring the entrance  to all those whose kit didn’t pass ‘historical inspection’ – so a huge variety in quality was observed.

Some dresses were amazing, some mediocre, some fairly awful – however,this was not a fashion show but a social occasion so it didn’t really matter. The idea was for everybody to have fun – and so no unkind words were said by anybody, which I thought was terrific – after all, many guests simply rented the costumes for the evening, or cobbled things together for themselves at the last minute, whereas others had evidently been sewing for years and preparing for the occasion for months.  Good breeding shows in good manners, and manners were excellent all round that night!

Having said all that, my professional inner self was taking notes – I noticed a few interesting facts and thought I share them with you.

It was interesting to notice that on average the gentlemen’s wear was of a much higher quality than ladies': all the men looked very dashing, be they in regimental or civilian gear. I may not be too enthusiastic about the ladies wear of the era, but by Jove, the men’s fashions were just amazing. What was even more interesting – the cut of the dolmans, jackets, tailcoats, etc, made all the blokes walk and move differently, with a proud and graceful posture – no slouching, no dragging feet or shuffling to be seen. Amazing!

As far as ladies wear is concerned, I realised  a very peculiar thing. The costumier in me looked at every gown, true – but as the evening progressed I noticed that the ladies who stood out most and looked the most authentic were not necessarily the ones with the best dresses…  It was the lasses who took care of all the elements together who looked the best overall. I have previously ranted at length about period silhouette, hair, accessories, etc (links to the  relevant posts  at the end of this post), and now I have the perfect proof.

Some amazingly well made dresses, all hand stitched silks, lovingly embroidered hems, etc, looked rather sad without their proper undergarments, (and yes, a lady’s posture without them is immediately recognisable); a few otherwise lovely gowns were also somewhat marred by modern hairdos and faces caked with make up and mascara.

On the other hand, there were gowns that were not really that well made, or where the fabrics were not that fantastic – but they looked spot-on as the wearer invested in proper undergarments (or perhaps had a naturally Regency suited figure ;-), had a proper hairdo (and not necessarily a complex one – there were a some very good, simple hairstyles that worked beautifully!), and went easy on the modern make up.
Add a pair of gloves, a shawl  and sometimes a reticule – and  all together the wearer stood out from the crowd – not merely a woman in fancy party dress, (however good it might be), but a woman truly wearing the clothes of the era.

The effect of taking such care was really amazing- indeed it was often easy to overlook how simple a dress really was, or what fabric was used – because it was the whole picture that caught the eye, not the mere details.
And it so happens that a girl in a borrowed,  poorly- fitting or cheaply made dress looked better (and at no great cost!) than  some ladies who spent a fortune on an elaborate silk gown but neglected the rest. The underwear and details do make such a difference – So voila – the First Impressions!

And yes, some first impressions would not pass a closer look unscathed – but for this particular occasion it simply didn’t matter :-)

Disclaimer: It is not my intention to offend anyone with this post, criticize their outfits  etc. it is just an impartial observation about the difference the attention to detail can make.

Promised links -

Looking the part1:(undergarments)

Looking the part 2 ( hair and make up)

 Looking the part 3 ( accossories)

and a few photos from the event!

great cap and bonnet combo!

yep, that’s us!

loved that blue gown in the later style, fantastic!

I do not do men’s garments after 1800.  But some people are very persuasive ( or simply very stubborn)…

In this case one of my existing customers ( I made a whole set of Regency wardrobe for his lovely lady last winter) managed to persuade me that I wanted nothing more than to make his new gear. A consensus was made, I gave under pressure and agreed to making shirts, waistcoats and the blingy coat, but drew a line at pantaloons. I shouldn’t have bothered at that line as it later turned out that since another tailor was a bit behind and wouldn’t be able to do the pantaloons – and  so I ended up making 2 pairs of the trousers. And a nice redingote for the lady…

The inspiration was the dress jacket from the National Army Museum 

Over July measurements were made, toiles were fitted and all the ingredients were assembled – and there was a lot to assemble!

The cloth ( broadcloth) came from Historical Textiles,  silly amount of military lace and braid from Hand&Lock, and some more braid and buttons were provided by the customer.

I started with the waistcoat….

pockets!

eyelets at the back

the waistcoat closes with hooks and eyes

ready!

Time for the jacket….

lace was applied and i started applying the trim….

all the wriggly bits ( official term!) in place

time to play with the front decoration…..

the innards showing the stitches – the braid was attached with a strong linen thread.  The whole jacket was later lined in red light woolen cloth ( shalloon)

sleeves ready!

and the result:-)

the pantaloons were next – and they worked surprisingly well! 2 pairs were maid, one on navy broadcloth, one in white one…

back waist detail

done!

front detail

and the navy pair

The whole set was worn at Bath during the Jane Austen festival – and as we were there for the Ball,  Lucas took some pictures of it all being worn together:-)

very dapper….

back view

undressed…

and chatting with the ladies….

At the ball with his lay wife, who is also sporting a Prior Attire kit:-)

and if you are wondering about the prices…

well, the blingy bits ( lace, braids, buttons) were well over £200,

fabric – broadcloth is at around £50 a metre ( and worth every penny!) –  6m were used.

1m of shallon for jacket lining, – £21

shirts, lining and neckclothes –  linen – 3m – £26

calico for toiles and interlining – £10

altogether the materials cost more or less around £400

Labour for it all – roughly £1000…..  it took altogether about 60 hours to complete….more or less.

Not a cheap  set – and obviously the accessories  were of fantastic quality and also , I imagine, rather dear. But gosh, doesn’t it all look fantastic! :-)

And surprisingly – I really enjoyed making it, so watch this space, I don’t think it is the end of military bling for me!

Credits

Cloth and help with patterning – Sean Phillips from Historical Textiles

Military lace:Hand&Lock

braid and buttons and the barrel sash:Stitch in Time

leatherwork – Peter Stroud

Photography – Pitcheresque Imagery

and all of this has been brought together by Prior Attire

We all know that very often it is the fabric that makes The Dress. A wisely chosen set of materials will bring out the beauty of the design, will enhance the tailoring – or even hide some dressmaking mistakes.  A less than perfectly sewn dress will look amazing if the fabric is right – and a fantastically well stitched creation can be badly marred by a poor fabric choice.

Naturally what fabrics we chose differs – all depends on the purpose of the garment. If it is a one off frock cobbled together for a friend’s fancy dress party,  you may not want to spend a lot on expensive silks; however if you are planning  a creation that you are going to wear a lot, or if you strive for authenticity, the correct fabric choice is essential.

In this post I shall mostly concentrate on the historical accuracy and will try to provide a basic reference on which fabrics to use in which period. The list is aimed at providing a very general overview, so I won’t be getting into details like which weight for which garment in which century – would take ages and would make for a very, very long post indeed!  I have learnt a lot over the last 20 or so years in the field – but am not omniscient, so if you know of an article or a reference that would be helpful with researching which fabrics were used  when, please post in a  comment and I will add it onto the article –  it would be very much appreciated!

I will also get a list of providers of the fabrics I use most often.

So, there we go!

Medieval.

Linen:  for undergarments, shirts, basic tunics, lining, gambesons, etc. Bleached linen for the unmentionables for the wealthy, unbleached, natural one for the less fortunate. Other colours ( reds, blues, browns, pinks etc were used for tunics, kirtles, linings etc. Different weights were used for different  garments.

Wool –  different weights and types were used – including   patterns – herringbone and diamond were apparently quite popular in the dark ages and Viking era for example; fulled wools tend to become popular from 9-10 century, whereas plain weaves were generally available throughout the period.

Silk –  plain weaves and some patterns are used from mid medieval period in the north of Europe,  earlier in the south – proximity to Byzantium and the silk route.  Available only for the wealthiest, really – and even then was used sparingly considering its great value. Plain weave, early taffetas ( 13-14^th century), basic brocades and damasks were used. Silk velvet starts to appear in the end of 13^th century, if I remember well, and by 15^th has evolved into several styles ( cut, uncut patterns etc).

Raw silk was probably used more by the steppe tribes, and duponi was not used much either, apparently.

14th century dress in wool, lined with linen

Cotton – although there are some references to cotton imported from India, they are very rare – fustian was used however (cotton/linen blend) and there were several fustian manufactures established on the continent.  In England cotton as a name is used in the 16^th century and most likely refers to woolen cloth!

Great article on the use of cotton in the medieval, Elizabethan and Stuart era – here 

silk/linen brocade, fleur de lys pattern

16-17^th century

 Linen – different weights any types ( cambric, lawn, Holland, buckram etc) – for undergarments, linings, ruffs, coifs, interlining, aprons, doublets, waistcoats etc

Wool – lots of varieties by that time, including blends with linen and silk; looks for broadcloth, scarlet, kersey, worsted, stammel, russet, cotton etc ); also, as mocado ( velvet using wool pile instead of silk)

Silk – again, lots of silk types used, in a variety of weights, patterns, blends ( cloth of gold, cloth of silver, tinsel) and grades. Look for satins, damask, velvets,grosgrain, sarcenet, taffets) Different types and patterns were popular in different decades. A good link showing some types- here 

Don’t be tempted by duponis ( existed, but very rare as second rate fabrics – contrary to today, slubs were frowned upon apparently), noil, stretch or crushed velvets…. Not period….

(Duponi lovers, do not despair, modern powerwoven duponi has hardly any slubs at all may be used as an alternative to taffeta. just avoid the slubby stuff where it shows…)

Cotton – see medieval note

Tudor gown in cloth of silver

 18^th century

Linen – underwear,  waistcoats, breeches, also dresses in the second half of the century ( especial pattern or printed) – polonaises, jackets etc

Wool – breeches, waistcoats, coats, capes, cloaks, riding habits, travelling outfits, uniforms etc

Cotton – at last! Getting more and more popular – and cheaper (cotton from the West Indies and America); I believe the first cotton velvet is mentioned in 1790 or thereabouts – there is an extant male waistcoat made in cotton velvet

Silk –  taffetas, brocades, damasks, velvets –plain or very specific patterns –famous Spitalfields silks ; used for dresses, petticoats, coats, breeches, waistcoats, frockcoats etc

striped silk for a polonaise

19^th century

Linen, as before

Cotton – including muslin, lawn, voile and plain cottons for dresses, pelisses, breeches, linings etc also undergarments including corsetry

Wool – coats, habits, suits, cloaks, dresses, uniforms,  – everything goes! A variety of types and weights are used, broadcloth, superfine, shallon, worsted etc

Silks – velvets ( still mostly silks, cotton velvets or plushes used as furnishing fabrics too), tafettas, grosgrain, damasks, brocades, twills, satins etc – a great range of fabrics of different weights, weave and patterns used

more stripes , wool this time, made into a Victorian bodice

 A few generic notes –

*avoid man-made, artificial fibres whenever you can. Polyester taffetas may be cheap – and not only do they looks so, but they are a nightmare to work with too.

*Sometimes (well, almost always!) quality will hit your pocket hard – but in the long run, it is worth it.  Don’t sue plastic embroidered duponis etc – save up  for a month or two and get plain silk taffeta; if you cannot afford a dress in silk velvet, use a cheaper silk, or blend – or wool – a very period thing to do, plus it is easier to clean.

*Hunt for bargains –  I have searches set up on ebay looking for  different silk fabrics and sending me reports every week – some of the listings are useless, but sometimes you can  stumble upon real treasures! Go to sales at silk mills, fabric stores etc.

*If possible,  do not skimp on fabric. True, sometimes you get  a fantastic end of roll silk –  and there is only so much of it – then piece the panels up and of course use it – but if you are at liberty to  get the proper amount of the fabric for the project, do so.

Silk brocade, Victorian

Trims and embellishment.

More or less similar things apply – avoid artificial stuff!  Elastic plastic lace will spoil any Victorian outfit, rayon guipure  lace will clash with proper Elizabethan fabrics. Also mark that different type of lace or braids were used in different periods – putting a cluny lace onto a 12^th century bliaud instead of tablet woven braid will not do you any favours.

Again, please mark all those notes are for historical attire – if you are making fantasy, bridal, steampunk, etc garments, you have  much more freedom with the fabrics and embellishment choice – I  love experimenting with the alternative bridal styles or Steampunk looks as my imagination can run wild and I can go for the trims and interesting fabrics that I cannot use for historical gear!

steampunk wedding gown using poly taffeta and satin – looks ok, but was an absolute nightmare to work with!

 Suppliers, in no particular order

Historical textiles – great quality  broadcloth, superfine and other

Hainsworths – wool

Whaleys – cotton, linen, silk

Bernie the Bolt – wool, linen, cotton – frequents UK and Europen markets – no website:-(

 Herts Fabrics – wool, linen -

 Renaissance fabrics – wool, linen, silks – lovely stuff!

Sew curvy – corsetry fabrics ( coutil, broche, drill)

 James Hare – lovely silks,  great lace,- you will need a trader’s account

 Silk Baron – silk velvet ( 80/20%), taffetas, duponi

Quartermasterie – lovely silks, also stunning silk velvet on cotton backing  – no website though! frequents UK markets

Harrington Fabrics – lace, silks, lovely brocades  – trader’s account needed

Watts&Co – church fabrics, absolutely gorgeous but very pricey ( looking at   £100 – £250 per metre, many fabrics made to order only)

Sartor - – historical textiles –  – great fabrics, do check the fibre composition information, some of them are blends!

MacCulloch and Wallis – cloth, lace, haberdashery

Duran textiles AB – lovely silks and cotton prints, suitable for 18th and 19th century

Happy shopping!

Can you do posh 1630  for a photoshoot  in Bolsover Castle? For next week? A friend asked… well,  I have quite a lot of kit, but my 1630 and 40 is middle upper class – but since I could get a few days free for making a new gown, and indeed I already had all the fabrics to make a stock 1630 frock, the answer was yes… The shoot was for English Heritage magazine, advertising masque event happening in Bolsover in July.

Since I had just a few days to play around with the frock, I decided to go for the styles I was familiar with – but also  use  techniques and information from a recently bought book –  Seventeenth Century Women’s  Dress Patterns ( fantastic book,  and volume 2 is just as good as volume 1, invaluable resource). I decided to base my bodice on the  slashed Ivory satin bodice ( p.70) but to go for tabs instead for peplum – in the styles of  a few of Maria Henrietta’s outfits. ( the inspiration board here)

Bodice, though based on a relatively uncomplicated pattern was tricky due to the amount of layers…

Bodice foundation in linen and linen canvas. there are 2- 3 layers in places, and they are boned with reed

bodice put together, boned and lower edge bound

the inside showing the layers

Once the foundation was ready, the bodice was covered with satin. It was time to  prepare the tabs, wings and lacing strips…

tabs – silk satin, decorated with silver metallic lace

lacing strips, 2 layers of linen, v=covered with silk, handworked eyelets

preparing the wings – they are boned with reed too

Tabs attached

time to place the wings on….

It was time for the sleeves next – the sleeves were made separately in silk satin, lined with white slilk, with the head partially cartidge pleated. they were sewn into the armholes using a string silk thread.

The skirts were very simple –  shaped panels were cut, sewn,  decorated and lined – the skirt was then cartridge pleated to the waistband

pleating

the last corrections and the stomacher could be made, and lace attached

On the day the dress was worn over a chemise, 2 petticoats ( a silk and a wool one – it was a bit nippy!) and a bumroll. The bodice was very comfortable, keeping all the things in and I was able to stay in it for about 6 hours including some stately dancing:-)

Very pleased with it – This particular gown has already been sold on to another dancing lady, but I do need one of my own – and I have an eye on a nice Olive satin – gold lace already purchased….

The results on the day:

and the spread in the English Heritage members magazine….

Fabrics:

Silks – James Hare

metallic lace – Barnett and Lawson

reed for boning- Vena Cava Design

lace – Tudor Tailor

dodgy wig – Ebay…

clothes  the frock and the gentleman’s outfit – Prior Attire, naturally  ( and though the dress is now gone, we still have a bumrolls  available from my online shop :-)

photography - Pitcheresque Imagery ( minus the photos as a couple – the local tog offered to snap them for us!)

Cost – fabrics  – about £300, not counting the linen; lace – about £60,  labour – £300.

For our  Regency stay in Bath I needed something for daywear. I had the evening attire, but apart from my riding habit, I didn’t have anything suitable. I had limited financial resources, but was able to put aside a few days for stitching – so the idea was to invest more in time rather than in the materials per se.  For Regency that simply meant using cotton:-) A quick browse though the costume books and boards, and I set my heart on that lovely redingote from the Kyoto Institute of Fashion, all in white cotton, with pom poms and insane amounts of piping.  Cotton fabric is cheap, so most of the expense would be the pompoms and the accessories – and so a decision has been made.

Materials:

6m of plain cotton ( for top layer and lining) ( approximately £45)

66 pompoms ( all handmade in cotton by Gina B) ( £120)

piping materials – cord and bias cotton tape – 36 metres ( !!!) ( £20)

10 pairs of hooks and eyes ( £2.00)

cotton lace ( broderie anglaise) – £12

calico for patterning

Time – about  20 hours

I experimented with the patterning first, to create the collar and upper bodice pieces. I used first the dummy and once I had the basics in place, I put it on myself, wearing stays ( modern dummies have  their busts in a very different position!)

The skirts and sleeves were easy, didn’t have to do mock ups from them but used my blocks – so far so good!

The tricky part was the piped elements – I have never done piping before, and although it is strange to embark on a heavily piped garment without prior experience, I do Like a challenge. So I read some instructions  ( very good introduction on Historical Sewing!)practiced  on a bit of spare cotton,  and then whizzed all 36 metres of it.

that’s the first batch…

Then it was time to apply it onto the  tabs…

tabs on the front panel of the skirts

took a few hours, that did, very boring hours… first the sirs, then the bodice, oversleeves and  and cuffs…

It was at that point that I noticed that the slits on the hem, oversleeves and collar are well, let us say, distinctively feminine looking, and from that point on the redingote got a working name – The Pussy Frock….:-)

Next stage was to mount  the piped elements onto the proper pieces… this stage had to be done all by hand, and it took forever. to sweeten the labour, a suitable viewing was required…. :-)

2 episodes later, one side is done…

the oversleeves

the cuff

bodice piping mounted

The pussies on the hem….

Once all the piping was sorted and on, the redingote was assembled, lined, hooks and eyes added, belt added – and then the pompoms were sewn on:-)

all ready!

and then it struck me – I might actually need  a walking dress  to go on top of my petticoat….. we planned to do some  dance practice and redingote, lovely as it is, may not be the best choice to prance around the dancefloor…

a 4 metres of self striped cotton and 5 hours later I had a simple day dress sorted…

The proper hat was almost ready for Bath – almost, I had trouble with the cockerel feathers mounting so in the end I decided go go for a different bonnet – straw base decorated with ribbon s and flowers. I finished it later on – but still not happy with it, I am not re-thinking the feathers mount options….

still, for the time being we got this:-)

   As for the layers – I am wearing a linen chemise, a long line corset,  a petticoat,  a day dress, stockings, shoes, hats etc…. quite a lot.

  The whole outfit is surprisingly comfortable and the piping makes it quite heavy too.  the best things is, when it gets dirty, you just wash it  with no special care – after all, it is all cotton!

 What I need now is a spencer, I think…. and a woolen pelisse for colder days.. .and another ball gown….. :-)

 Credits:

 clothes - Prior Attire;

 boots – unbelievably comfy ones from American Duchess - when they arrived I suspected the heel will chafe – but after 3 hours of walking and 2 hours of dancing, my feet were snug and comfy – so a great buy!

 umbrella – Sherri Light; I supplied the silk, Sherri covered an antique frame and added antique silk fringe. Love it!

 stockings, ribbons and  straw hat base – Dressing History

 pompoms – Gina B Silkworks

 photography -Pitcheresque Imagery

In a few days’ time  it will be our third wedding anniversary – and to celebrate we decided to make these articles available for free – enjoy!

To be wed in Victorian finery! What can a bride-to-be want more? Well, probably a costumier who would do all the fiddly work for her.  Alas I wasn’t that lucky – and the tight budget meant that if I wanted a fancy frock for my wedding, I had to make my own.

Victorian was a fairly new period for me at that time – so in order to allow the time to learn the secrets of Victorian costuming, I decided to make the bridal party frocks first – 4 different styles of Victorian outfits. The reasoning behind that was that by the time I start work on my own outfit, if I was to make any mistakes, I would have made them, and learnt from them before I cut into the hideously expensive bridal satin.  The cunning plan worked, and the results will be presented to you in this article, so that, if you wish, you can duplicate the look without having to negotiate such a steep learning curve.

I am going to discuss the layers briefly, and then provide instructions how to make the following: a steel boned bustle, a soft bustle pad and a flounced petticoat, a foundation skirt, apron overskirt and a detachable train; an afternoon and a ball bodice and a veil.  Most of the garments have been presented in the individual articles (apart from the bodices); this one deals with all the garments in once place so that it is easier to use it if you wish to replicate any –or all of the items.

Background information and research

The style I wanted for my outfit was around 1883, so just after the Natural Form when the second Bustle style comes into fashion.

I had to consider a few factors: the dress would be worn not only for the ceremony, but for a hack on a side saddle, and then, with the evening bodice, for dancing.  The two factors, riding and dancing had a huge impact on the underwear I chose to make.

I already managed to acquire a few antique items I planned to wear – a lovely camisole, a pair of drawers (in the earlier style, but I decided to wear them anyway, since time to prepare the whole bridal trousseaux was short) and a bodiced petticoat.

A corset cover in cotton

Split drawers

A bodiced petticoat

I needed a corset, a bustle pad – to support the skirts for riding, a full, long, steel boned bustle, ideal for supporting the skirts for dancing, and a flounced petticoat to provide the volume.

The corset

To take some weight off my shoulders and save me some time – and possibly mistakes, as well, I engaged Cathy Hay from Harman Hay to draft the pattern of the corset and create the mock up. Once that was ready, I was presented with ready pattern pieces and could make the corset myself – a great solution as a perfect compromise, saving me both time and money.

Since I wanted to be using the corset for all kinds of activities, it was essential that I made sure the corset did not restrict my movement. Cathy’s mock up was fully boned and behaving just like the real thing, so I was able to test it in a variety of situations. The mock up fitted almost perfectly while standing and moving around – but it was a different story when I used it for more energetic activities!

I tried it on horseback, and it was evident almost from the start that it needed it to be much shorter than I originally thought as the front busk kept digging in my thigh, and a jump resulted in a spectacular bruise.

Testing the mock up in the saddle- busk is visibly too long

You can also see that the sides and back were just slightly too high for riding – mark my awkward arm position at the jump.

Since it was just a mock up, the alternations were not difficult to reflect on the pattern, and as a result I ended up with a corset that not only fits well, but that also works well for all kinds of activities.

Corset in cotton coutil and taffeta, fully boned – here just testing before adapting the sides, binding and decorating

Almost ready – just flossing to do (done 18months after the wedding! )

 The bustle cage (lobster tail) and the petticoat

I have already written an article on making the bustle cage – here, and the petticoat tutorial is here

Testing the layers in the saddle…

back view – note the unbuttoned petticoat

Stockings, chemise,drawers, corset and the petticoat, worn on the bustle pad, at trial riding

 The pad or the bustle?

Some skirts can be worn on either, depending on the style and dating.   The pad is great for walking and, in my case, I made one for walking down the aisle. I was riding side saddle just after the ceremony and there would be no time to change – so the pad worked very well.

The long bustle was simply amazing for dancing. My wedding gown had a long train which bustled for dancing, but the weight was substantial, and it was still trailing on the ground. The bustle kept the excess fabric away from my legs, making waltzing much less difficult!  Despite the steels, the bustle is very comfortable to sit in too – it simply collapses flat!

Victorian wedding gown – skirts and train worn over a pad.

The same gown, though with an evening bodice, worn over the steel boned bustle.

The Skirts

We will discuss the construction and decoration of the skirt, apron skirt and a detachable train suitable for the Victorian fashions of the Second Bustle period – although with small changes the items will also work for the Natural Form era.

My wedding gown is used here as an example – but the items can be rendered  in any  suitable fabric and used for travelling, visiting, promenading or ball gowns – or Steampunk versions of thereof!

The pattern

For my wedding attire, simplicity was the main concern. I needed the skirt to be versatile: wide enough to dance and ride in, but without  a bulk; also, I wanted it to be worn with a later outfit, late 80ies, maybe even 90ies so  any excessive decoration was really not an option.

In the end, and with some help from another costumier, Gini Newton, we decided on a 9 gore skirt, with a slight train.  We based our pattern on the skirt discussed in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 2 –  1882 dinner dress from The London Museum and adapted it accordingly arriving at a pattern very similar to the one of gallery of English Costume C1895, also in Janet Arnold. We did try a number of skirts to see which one would sit best on the bustle and the last one did the job just fine!

The London Museum skirt consists of front panel, front side panels, back sides panels and a back panel. We have added a side side panel as well – it provides a good fit at the upper part of the skirt in front and flares beautifully at the bottom; it can be worn with a bustle or, for later styles, without.

A similar pattern is available from Vena Cava designs:

http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/Ladies’_Nine-Gored_Skirt%3A_Circa_1900.html

Fabric:

All the components of the whole wedding outfit were made out of silk Duchesse satin. I bought mine from the Silk Society, and although absolutely stunning, it was also very expensive, retailing at £70 per metre. In the hindsight, I know now I could have obtained a fabric of similar quality but at half the price from James Hare.  James Hare’s duchesse satin has also the advantage of coming in a non-curl version – and for anybody who has ever had to deal with the curly satin, the advantages would be obvious!

The skirt took 3.5 metres of the 140cm wide top fabric and the same amount of lining (in lawn). If you plan to decorate your skirt in more complex and bigger ruffles, add at least 2 metres.

5 metres of crin tape for the hem

The same skirt can be made in plain wools, silk taffetas or satins as well.

Method

Since the satin I had was of the curly variety, I decided to flat line the skirts to stabilise the top fabric – a method commonly used in the period.

1. Cut your pieces in lining first, labelling each one as you do so.
2. Place the lining pieces on the left side of the top fabric, working one by one and starting from the front

-          Place the centre front lining panel on the fabric. Pin the two layers together, than cut out the top fabric. You now have a piece consisting of two layers, securely pinned. Make sure your labelling is visible – best place it next to the seam on the lining – it will be very helpful when assembling the skirt! If your fabric is very slippery, it is worth your time to baste the two layers together.

-          Repeat for all the other pieces; it really helps if, after cutting out you place them in the order they will be sewn.

-          Cut out the waistband and the placket

3. Baste or pin the front and side pieces together. It is not necessary to baste all the way down, at the moment you only want to see if the skirts lies correctly on your belly and hips. The back panels will be pleated into the waistband, so the snugness is not necessary there.
4. Try putting the basted pieces around your waist, while wearing your undergarments. This is essential – when you wear your corset the shape of your body changes – even if you do not go for tight lacing, the shape of your waist and belly will be different and that will be reflected in the fit of the skirt. If your skirt is to be always worn under an apron skirt or other drapery, a mistake here will go unnoticed. For later period however, a perfect fit is required.
5. If the fit is to your satisfaction, you can sew the pieces. Again start from the front centre panel and add the side centre panels.
6. After each panel press the seam flat (or you can do it once all the seams are sewn). You can also finish the raw edges with pinking shears to limit fraying, or  finish the stitches by hand.

Flat lined seams from the left side

If your skirts are in wool, or you wish them to be light, without any lining, simply sew the pieces right sides together, press the seam flat and either pink it or finish the edges by hand.

7. Remember to leave an opening in the back seam for the placket (or a side seam if your skirt closes at the side instead).
8. Arrange the back panels into pleats and pin the skirt to the waistband.
9. Try it on, on all your undergarments.
10. Tweak any problem areas and if everything is as you desire, sew the waistband to the skirt, placing the two layers right sides together. Fold the waistband  over, covering the edges, and hand stitch in place

3. waistband

1. Prepare your placket and attach it to the opening on one side. Fold the edges of the opening over and hand stitch, securing them.

5. back pleats

2. Add a button and a button hole – or hooks and eyes.
3. Time to look at the bottom hem now.  Try the skirt on, or put it on the stand, worn on all your undergarments and check the line of the hem. Make sure the length is appropriate to the shoes you will be wearing and make necessary adjustments.
4. Take the skirt off; flip it on the left side.  Pin your crin. There are two ways  of working with that, you can either fold the hem and hand stitch it to the lining of the skirt  and then place the crin on top , covering the folded hem. Or, hand stitch the crin band to the lining, a little above the hem. Then fold the hem over it and stitch in place.  Press. The second method works much better on curly or flimsy fabrics, producing a nice finish to the hem.

Finished skirt without the ruffle

5. You can add a short dust ruffle at the bottom as well. I added mine after I have finished all the garments as I wasn’t sure how much fabric I would have left!
6. Cut the desired length of the ruffle in top fabric and lining. I realised that for every metre of the finished ruffle I need about 3 metres of fabric.
7. Place the top layer and the lining right sides together, and sew. Once sewn, unfold and press the seam, then fold again making sure the top fabric extends a bit on the left side at the bottom hem of the ruffle. Press.
8. The upper edge of the ruffle – you can either fold the top part over and stitch o4 fold both layers inside and stitch at the hem.
9. You should now have quite a long, narrow strip of fabric. Since it is narrow, you can use a ruffle attachment on the machine to pleat it – it takes minutes instead of hours!

ruffle pleated and awaiting application

1. Once pleated, press the ruffle carefully and pin to the hem – I placed mine over the crinoline strip, completely covering it.

Ruffle being pinned to the skirt

Close up of the ruffle

Stitch the ruffle in place – make the stitches in strong thread but remember that do not need to be tiny – after all you will be taking off the ruffle to be cleaned!  

The inside of the skirt showing the ruffle

Your skirt is now ready.

the skirt in action – note the delicate edging of the ruffle

Optional decoration

If you want you can add ruffles , flounces and other decorations to  the bottom of your skirts , simply repeat the steps  with a ruffle of your choice sewn to the outside of the skirt. A variety of options are possible here – one wider ruffle, few narrower ones, a flounce – the possibilities are endless!

For a simple, unlined ruffle, cut the desired length of the fabric – min 3 times the length of the finished ruffle . Hem on both sides and pleat – using a pleater, or a ruffler, or traditionally, with pins…

Press the finished ruffle with starch – or vinegar solution and sew onto the skirt.

Finished skirt with 2 rows of pleating

You can experiment with the direction, sizes and shape of the pleats too – here’s an example of that!

Alternative knife and box pleats, with the top being shaped as well

And an example of gathered flounces on a Natural Form era skirt, here on one of my bridesmaids

And a combination of a ruffle and a ruching panel on a narrower skirt

The apron skirt

Fabric – 2.5 satin duchesse; again, wool, taffeta, satin etc will work just as well. If you want your skirt lined, the same amount of lining fabric will be needed.

2m of calico for mock up and experimenting

3m of decorative silk fringe

Pattern:

There are several patterns available online  – mine was based on  this one: http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/1883_August_Overskirt.html

Since I didn’t actually buy the pattern (a pity since I have no doubt it would shorten the whole process considerably!), I decided to make mine first in calico and experiment.

Method

Experimental  method : worth trying if you have never done this skirt before, or simply want to see the possibilities, in particular if you are working with a new fabric. Skip this step if you have a readymade pattern!

Cut two pieces in calico – front and back, both in trapezoid shape, with the back longer. Stitch the sides together and put it on the dummy. Try different kinds of pinning the folds:

calico mock up 1 – fail!

Folds pinned facing downwards first. Epic fail

calico mock up2 – not too good either

Folds pinned upwards. Better, but not what I was after.

At that point, I took the thing off, re-cut  the pieces in calico, this time placing them on the bias.  Stitched them together, put the skirt on the dummy.

calico mock up 3. bettter but not much

Folds downwards: not very good, though better than before

calico mock up 4. bingo!

Pinned upwards – result!

Just to be on the safe side, I took a length of the satin and pinned it as the front on the dummy, to see it the satin would behave like the calico. It did. Pinned the fringe on, to see if it would work with the heavy trim as well. It did!

 The making of the apron skirt proper.

1. Cut out the pieces in your fabric (some fabric will require bias cut, some won’t – crispy taffeta looks good both ways!)
2. Mark and sew the darts in the upper part
3. Sew the pieces together, leaving the top of one seam open. Press the seams open and pink them.
4. Cut out the waistband.
5. Pleat the back part to fit into the waistband. You can add cotton tapes to the inside – they would control the folds at the back

6. Sew the waistband in the same way you did with the skirt, add buttons/hooks and eyes)
7. Fold the hem over and secure it with small stitches. Add fringe or any other decoration
8. Put the skirt on the dummy and pin the folds carefully.

9. Take the skirt off, and secure the folds with stitching – either by hand or by machine.

10 Attach the decoration (optional).

apron skirt, with the folds pinned

apron skirt – trying the decoration band

Your apron skirt is now ready – decorated the sides of mine with removable flower bands – more information on making them later!)

The train

Materials:

Fabric: silk duchesse satin, 4.5m (including the pleated section)

Lining – silk taffeta for the train, 2.5m

Lining for the pleats: 2m of cotton lawn

10 metres of cotton lace

12m of grosgrain ribbon

4 m of cotton tape

9 ivory roses for decoration

The train I had in mind had to serve several functions.  It had to be pretty (obvious, really!) and for that I chose the finish I saw on the Worth Evening dress (1881) at the V&A – scallops, pleats and lace.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O13849/evening-dress/

I also wanted to make it long enough to look spectacular as I walked down the aisle; it also had to be easy to bustle up for dancing or to remove for riding.

Pattern:

That was the easiest part.  I cut a rectangle of fabric (220 x 1.35cm) and simply rounded the bottom corners of the train.

Method:

1. Cut the train in your top fabric and lining.
2. Spread the top fabric left side up  and draw the scallops
3. Cut out the scallops.
4. Hem the train by folding the edges in and securing with small stitches; alternatively leave it as it is for the time being – you can do it later by machine as well!
5. Place the top fabric on the lining, pin it and cut the scallops in the lining. You can now stitch the lining in by hand. It is possible to do it with a machine, though with scallops it tends to be a bit tricky. I opted for the hand method as it gave the scallops a nice finish.
6. Pleat the top of the train and secure the pleats with pins.
7. Cut 3 lengths of cotton tape – they will keep the train bustled up.  The length of the tapes will depend on how you want to bustle the train, mine end at about a foot off the ground.
8. Pin in the tapes to the left side of the pleats – two at about 2 inches from each edge and one in the centre.
9. Attach to a waistband.  The waistband can go all around the torso, or it can be a short one with tapes for tying it around your waist.

train pleats in the waistband

Train pleated to the waistband

Inside of the train showing the placement of the tapes.

The basic shape of the train is now ready, time to add all the embellishments

1. Take the lace and the grosgrain ribbon. The ribbon should be long enough to go around all the scallops
2. Attach the lace to the ribbon, gathering it slightly as you go.  Machine ruffler would be no good here as the lace was too delicate, so the process took some time, but it as an easy and nice job.
3. Pin the finished  lace frill to the hem of the train and hand sew in place

Train with the lace layer sewn on

The pleated layer

1. Cut out the length of fabric in your top fabric. Again the ration of 3:1 works fairly accurately here.  The finished length should be the length of the bottom hem of the train, without the scallops, times 3 – or more if you have enough fabric! The width of the piece should be enough to cover the whole scallop and extend beyond it for other few inches. Mine was 14 inches wide (36cm).
2. Cut the same piece in lining, but make it 2 inches narrower.
3. Place the two layers right sides together and sew along the length of the upper and lower part. Leave the short sides open.
4. Flip the piece right sides out and press carefully, making sure the edges are even. Secure the ends by folding the fabric inside and stitching the layers together.
5. The next step requires a great deal of patience and even a greater deal of pins. Decide on the size of the pleats –  ( mine were just over an inch) and pleat the strip,  securing each pleat at both ends

Pleated piece

6. Once pleated, sew near the top of the pleats, securing them – you can stitch over a grosgrain ribbon as I did. Keep the pins in the bottom part as they are
7. Press carefully.
8. Put your pleated ruffle left side up, spread it slightly to reflect the curve of the train and place another length of the ribbon in the centre. Stitch it on by hand; it will make sure that the pleats will stay together and the ruffle won’t lose shape.

Adding the support ribbon

Finished ruffle, right side view.

9. Place the ruffle on the left side of the train ( right side of the ruffle to the left side of the train), pin and hand stitch – make sure the stitches catch only the lining and the tiniest bit of the top fabric between the scallops, and that the stitches at the deepest  part of the scallop are the strongest – they won’t be visible since there will be roses on top of them, and they will be the ones responsible of holding the ruffle in place.

Ruffle pinned to the train

Pleated layer stitched to the body of the train

1. Sew in the roses or any other decorations.

The train is almost finished – all it needs now is a balayeuse.

Fabric:

Cotton twill, lawn or silk – here silk was used – 3m. Cotton would be a much more practical version, but for the wedding dress silk just looked better. Plus, having washed the silk in the machine on low temperature setting it looked as if the washing didn’t do much harm, and indeed I have washed my balayeuse since then and it did survive the experience

Broderie anglaise lace trim. –   10 m

Buttons – 14

 Pattern:

Determine the size and shape of your balayeuse by noticing how much train will be lying on the floor. Mine is a semicircle, with the straight line reaching across the train from the first scallop on both sides.

Method:

1. Cut the base out, hem the edges.
2. Cut the flounces – there will be a lot of them!
3. Make the flounces just as you did the ruffles for the skirts: hem the fabric (hemming foot was a blessing here), add the broderie anglaise or any other lace, then pleat the ruffles (again the ruffle saved tons of time!)
4. Attach the ruffles to the base.

5. Make buttonholes on the straight line and along the bottom.
6. Mark the position of the buttonholes on the train proper. Sew small buttons onto the train.
7. Button up the balayeuse to the train.

Balayeuse attached to the train

All that need to be done is putting hooks and eyes (or buttons – in the hindsight, buttons work better, as hooks tend to unhook!) onto the bustling tapes and onto the train. Do experiment with it, making sure the placement of the hooks creates the effect you want.

I also used bands with flowers to keep the train bustled up – the same band were used to decorate the apron skirt and, later on, the evening bodice.

Decoration

Components:

fabric roses  – 30

bunches of small paper roses -25

Strips of fabric to attach the flowers to

Method

1. Prepare 5 strips of silk – two to go on the sides of the apron skirt, 2 to be used for the train.
2. I used  4 inch strips, which I folded in half stitched on the left sides, turned,  finished the edges and pressed.
3. Attach the decoration. Pin the big roses in first, sewing them to the strip to ensure they faced the right direction and then place the small bunches around, securing their wiry stems around the big rose. Stitch them all down carefully.
4. Once ready, stitch the bands on their appropriate places – the apron skirts ones went just over the side seams of the apron skirt.
5. The train bands were given loops at each side and decorative buttons were sewn onto the apron skirt next to the decoration – the bands simply button in place

The train in its full glory: unbustled:

And showing the train bustled up for dancing.

In the next post I will talk about making the two bodices – and all the accessories:-)

Welcome to Part 2! in Part 1 we covered undergarments, skirts, overskirts and trains, now it is time to talk about the bodices and accessories:-)

The bodices and accessories

Originally, a Victorian bride would get married in a day dress, with full or ¾ length sleeves. Often, it would be her travelling gown if she was to leave for her honeymoon straight afterwards. I wanted to keep with the tradition and have a day bodice for the ceremony and a short hack in the side saddle, but at the same time I needed a ballroom bodice for the evening – inside the venue it will be quite warm and no doubt I will be hot later on, waltzing the night away. There was no way about it, I needed 2 separate bodices.

Patterns

It is tricky to fit toiles on oneself, and I did not want to risk any problems and mistakes at that early stage, which presented me with a bit of a dilemma. Luckily, a friend who is also an accomplished costumier, Gini Newton, offered to help with pattern developing and toile fitting.   To make the pattern developing stage easier, we first had a good look at a few extant garments and discussed the techniques employed and the patterns used. Then we tried a few Victorian and Edwardian bodices of Gini’s, swiftly finding one which was not almost a generally good fit, but was also easy to adapt to create the shape I wanted for the day bodice.  We then used an existing pattern, dug out somewhere out of Gini’s pattern library, for the evening bodice.

Similar patterns are available from Vena Cava designs:

http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/1880_Dinner_Bodice.html

http://www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Products/1885_Cuirass_Bodice_fits_over_bustle.html

The day bodice

Materials:

1.5m of silk satin duchesse,

1.5m of cotton lawn for lining

15 pearl buttons,

5 m of grosgrain ribbon

1.5m or antique lace

A piece of thicker fabric for sweat guards and the collar

6 flat bones

2 pairs of hooks and eyes

Method:

1. Cut out the pieces in calico or other fabric for a mock up.

mock up pieces

1. Sew the darts, sew the back, sides and shoulder seams.
2. Try it on your underwear – corset and bustle or bustle pad. Adjust any problem areas, mark the desired length and shape for the hem and the neck opening.

Marking the neckline

4. Once the correct fit is achieved,  you can either unstitch the mock up and use it as a pattern for the bodice proper, or, if the adjustments were minimal, just mark them on the pattern and use the paper to cut out your pieces
5. Cut the pieces of the bodice in top fabric and lining. Like most Victorian bodices, mine was flat lined, so ever piece was pinned together with its lining straight away to avoid confusion later. If necessary, baste the two layers together, it is much easier to deal with them as one.
6. Sew the darts in first and press them first open, then to one side.
7. Sew the pieces together, stating from the back pieces. Every seam needs to be pressed – and it was also a period technique to pink the seam allowance to reduce fraying. If you can, pink and shape yours, it does help and looks rather pretty too. Alternatively, fold the seam allowance over and slipstitch to the lining.

Inside an antique bodice, showing the finish of the seams

8. Pin the folds at the back if you plan on that particular feature. Don’t worry about the sleeves yet.
9. Try it on – again, make sure you are wearing all the layers, including the skirts. Check all the details: pin the front opening together and mark the overlap if closing it with buttons. Mark where you want the collar to go and see if the armholes are big enough.

Trying the bodice on – the front and the back 

1. Once everything looks as it should, work on the sleeves – sew the sleeve together, press the seams and pin it into the armhole. Try it on. Adjust as necessary and sew in if it fits fine. Press and pink the seams.
2. If you want, make sweat guard out or a tightly woven fabric – I cut two circles out of mine and stitched them into place in the underarm area. Any sweat will soak into them and prevent the silk of the bodice from unsightly stains. Once stained (and no doubt stinky), the guards can be easily removed and washed or replaced.
3. Cut out the collar in satin and in sturdier fabric.  Lay the satin pieces right sides together and sew.  Baste the sturdier piece on top of one piece; so that once the collar is flipped onto the right side, the piece stays inside, supporting the shape of the collar. Press the seams.
4. Lay the collar on the bodice right sides together, pin and sew through the outside layer of the collar and all layers of the bodice. Cover the seam by folding the inside layer over the seam and slipstitching it to the bodice.
5. Time to tackle the front edges…Fold the edges inside and slip stitch to the lawn or simply run a seam along the edge. Press.
6. The bottom of the bodice is bound – you can use a readymade bias tape or make your own. I usually make my own, it is fast, easy and you can match the fabric perfectly. Here I used the same fabric as the bodice – cut strips of the fabric on the bias, and either use the bias maker and iron or simply fold the edges inside and press.  Although the second method is more time consuming and doesn’t give such good result as a bias maker, it still works in emergencies.
7. Pin your bias tape to the bodice right sides together, and sew. Press the seam, encase the edge in the tape and sew the inside part to the lining– you can do this part on the machine too, but it means the seam will be visible on the right side and it doesn’t give such a nice finish.
8. If you have pleats at the back, arrange them, press and stitch in place. I also added a small rectangle of fabric to which I sewn the pleats – it covered all the rough edges nicely

8. Mark the buttonholes and work them  either by hand or by machine, then add the buttons.

9. Time to add some boning! I made the bone castings out of a grosgrain ribbon, but you can buy readymade ones. Select the bones you want to use, put them into the castings and stitch the castings inside the bodice – in my case the bones went on the front edge, over the darts and at the sides. A useful trick – have the bones in the castings ready early on and cello-tape them to the seams at the fitting stage

1. You can now add the waist tape with hooks. It keeps the bodice in place preventing it from ‘riding up! Wish I remembered to hook mine; the tape was dangling out during the ceremony…

The tape secured at the centre back

Inside the bodice, button side

Inside the bodice, buttonhole side

1. Last thing – decoration.   Cut 3 pieces of ribbon, one for the neck and two for the cuffs. Sew lace onto a ribbon and then attach the ribbon sewing it inside the cuffs and the neckline, including the collar.  I didn’t sew very diligently – just like in the original, I used larges stitches – it was later easier to take the lace off for washing.

The collar detail

Sleeve decoration

2. The bodice was ready!

The evening  bodice

 Materials:

1m of silk satin

1m of lawn for lining

Eyelets

Lacing cord

Flat bones

  Method.

The method was very similar to the one I used for the day bodice.

1. Prepare your mock up and try it on as before .You will need either someone to pin the back for you, or use a lacing strip to lace the mock up if you are working on your own. Do not skip this step.

evening bodice mock up pieces

Evening bodice mock up, front and back

2. Once the correct fit is achieved, cut out your pieces in top fabric and lining, basting or pinning every piece as you go.
3. Sew the darts.
4. Sew the parts together starting from the centre front. Pink and press the seams
5. Try it on! Again, the trick with using the bones at that stage can be employed, pity I learnt about it too late – here you can see the bodice being put on without the bones and I was really upset as I didn’t know how to get rid of them. Putting the bones at that stage would have saved me the worry, cause, as it turned out later, the wrinkles disappeared once the bones went in…doh!

trying the evening bodice on

6. Time to work on the back – fold eth edges over and stitch to the lining, then run a single seam along the edge – wide enough to accommodate a flat steel bone.
7. Mark and set the eyelets, then insert the bones.
8. If everything is ok, you can finish the edges: prepare the bias tape and bind the bottom, neck and armholes. Finish by securing the tape by hand and press. Add lace – I added some for the neckline, to prevent wiry stems of my flowery decoration from scratching my skin.
9. Attach the bones.
10. The bodice is theoretically finished, all it needs is some ornaments and a lacing cord.

evening bodice inside – finished, just awaiting decoration

 Decoration

The decoration I used here is almost identical to the one I used on the apron skirt and on the bands used to bustle the train and the manufacture  process is almost the same too – stitching the flowers onto a strip of fabric ( added some lace here though)  and the strip is then hand stitched to the bodice

The main outfit is now ready – all it needs is the accessories.

 The veil

Materials

Silk net tulle, 4m, from Silk Society

5m Brussels lace from MaCulloch and Wallis

(http://www.macculloch-wallis.co.uk/Product.aspx/FineLaces!10177)

A plastic transparent comb

 Method

That was easy.

1. Round the corners of the veil and decide on the point where the comb was to be attached.
2. Sew the comb in

3. Sew the lace on the hem. I cut my lace in half, lengthwise – it was too wide otherwise, plus worked out much cheaper. Then carefully stitched it onto the tulle.
4. Press – and it is ready.

The purse

A friend embroidered bits of silk for me as a wedding present. I then simply stitched the pieces together, lined them and decorated the edges with a cord and a tassel – spectacular work from Gina Barrett.

The fan – antique item from Etsy, came in the original box and with the original tassel in a very poor condition. Again Gina was great making a tassel that closely resembled the original one but also one that worked with my colour scheme

Other accessories included:

White leather gloves, present from my mother

A freshwater pearl necklace

Amethyst and diamond earrings (borrowed, from my matron of honour)

Cotton stockings, clocked, in blue – from Dressing History

Boots – for the ceremony and riding, an ebay find – if i was to do it again, I would get the lovely Renoirs from American Duchess!

And for the dancing, Supadance shoes in white satin

An antique tiara: wax orange blossoms, again, an etsy find

And antique side saddle cane – a surprise present from a friend, Becca Holland.

  Hair

Hair was a bit of a challenge. I knew I was going to do it myself and I knew I needed a hairdo that would be easy to recreate for me quickly as I may not have a lot of time  (( well, since the ceremony was at 3.30, we had a hunting meet in the morning and went  hunting on Quantocks…). wisely so, as we did get back late and I had had about 20 minutes to dress myself, do the makeup and hair.

The inspiration for my hair was the movie Daniel Deronda, and a friend specialising in vintage styling took on the challenge  https://www.facebook.com/sarahsdoowopdos. It still took some time, bur Sarah explained every step so I at least knew the basics.

at the hair trial, experimenting with different looks

For the wedding I decoded to use extensions with my own hair as a base.

On the day  I simply bunged all my hair high up in  an bun, used one set of curls to create the upper part of the hairdo, pinning the ringlets with pins, and clipped in the other set just below. It took me 3 minutes, and for a rushed job didn’t look too bad!

And that’s the finished outfit.   Oh, and well, a groom wouldn’t be amiss  here Lucas is wearing a 1815, ‘Mr. Darcy’ outfit made by Gini Newton, and Farthingales (the breeches)

bridal party having fun-) and yes, I made all the dresses too….

Cost –  all together, the cost of the materials alone was about £2000 – the silk duchess satin from Silk Society was £70 a metre – and now I know similar one can be purchased from James Hare  at a better price..

Altogether with labour, accessories etc I closed the deal in £3000….. not bad for a wedding dress – especially since I have worn it for Victorian events and demonstrations since then, so a bit of an investment paying off:-)

For more pictures, our official pictures, by Lensmonkey Photography, can be viewed here:

To see it in action, there are some public video clips available here : http://www.youtube.com/user/priorattire.

Since the wedding I have opened a bridal branch – Prior Engagement with alternative bespoke bridal fashion – many of them historically inspired:-)

I hope you have enjoyed reading the articles as much as I writing them – they did bring all the happy moments back!

And if you are curious about what we did on the big day – the blog post on the wedding itself is here

1876 February ensemble

It all started innocently enough – ‘Historical Sewing’ posted a fashion plate on their timeline – February 1876, from Englishwomen’s Domestic Magazine

I liked it, and pinned it to my Pinterest board, stored away on a wish list of items to make one day – there were already too many other things to be worked on.  Over the last few months I got the fabrics bit by bit, so that everything would be ready for when I eventually decided to go for it – no hurry, no pressure.

But then, due to a sudden change of plans it turned out that we would be attending a Victorian Christmas Market at Stoke Rochford Hall, near Grantham. In itself, noting extraordinary here, until it was pointed out to me that there would be a skating rink on site! That was all I needed to get my imagination going and I immediately saw myself gliding effortlessly across the ice, swathed in that lovely February attire.

The timing was tricky – I had commissions to work on first of all, but I reckoned if I got them sorted out and could have a day to  get most of the work done with the machine, then I could spend Saturday at the market hand finishing the last bits, and Sunday would see me wearing the completed outfit.  Just about doable…

As a matter of fact, I managed to finish the commissions early enough, so had half of Thursday at my disposal – it almost seemed too good to be true, so I embarked upon the project. And it was indeed too good to be true – my new machine threw a wobbler, and as a result it was sent back for servicing/repairs… meaning that I ended up with a brand new semi industrial machine in its place!  So don’t be surprised if you see different machines in the pictures.

I did manage to do all of the machine work on the Friday and took the lot to be hand finished at the event.

Anyway – a step by step account  below, should you wish to recreate the outfit for yourself!

Materials

Wool (with nap, so limits the direction of cutting) – 6m (5-5.5 would probably do the trick if using plain fabric with no nap)

Black silk for the bodice front insert – 0.5m

Lining – cotton, 5m, two varieties (I used up left over bits)

Fur trim – 12 yards (an Etsy find)

Velvet ribbon, narrow – 25 m

Double sided velvet ribbon, wide – 15m

Bits of black silk velvet for binding,

Buttons, covered with black velvet – 20

Waist stay – cotton tape

Hooks and eyes for the waist stay,

Boning for the bodice and tape to form boning channels

Total cost of the materials –  Fabrics ( wool and  lining) £115, trims, notions etc – £ 130 ( fur trim was a bit pricey… )

The skirt and the overskirt.

Pattern

In the original the skirt is trained, but since I wanted to use the ensemble for winter sports, a train would probably be a bit of a hindrance– so a walking skirt length was required instead. As such, I simply used one of the patterns that I have been using for my walking bustle-skirts.

The overskirt pattern was a bit of an adventure – given the limited time allowance, I sketched the shape more or less, cut it out, and it sort of worked.  On second thoughts I think I should have made the hem more curved – a suggested improvement is marked on the drawing. Mind you, keeping the shape rectangular makes sewing the ribbon trim rather easier than following curved lines – if you plan the trim, it is easier to change the upper part of the piece – (also marked on the drawing)

The skirt.

1. Cut out your pieces in top fabric and lining. The skirt will be flatlined, so pin or baste each piece together (front top fabric to front lining) before assembly.
2. Mark and pin the darts in the front piece. Sew the darts
3. Assemble – sew the side pieces to the front piece.
4. Decide where you want the opening to be – centre back, if you are not cutting the back piece on fold, or side back, as I did.
5. Stitch the back piece(s) at the side panels. Press the seams open, if you can (not advisable on my napped wool – heat flattens the nap and leaves marks  )
6. Pleat the pack of the skirt so that it matches the length of the waistband.
7. Place the waistband on the skirt (right sides together), pin and stitch.

pleating the skirt

sewing the waistband on

1. Grade the seam, reducing the bulk of the pleats, then flip the waistband over and secure it with small stitches (or run the stich on the sewing machine). Since my fabric was quite bulky, I cut the waistband with the selvage – so that I didn’t have to turn it under and create another layer of volume

waistband sewn – back view

.inside view of the waistband being slipstitched

1. Add a button hole and a button.
2. Place the skirt on the dummy, over the undergarments that you plan to wear. Adjust the hem, marking any corrections. Just to be absolutely sure, try the skirt on – again with the undergarments on, and the boots you will be wearing.
3. Once you are satisfied with the length all around, finish the hem. You have a few options here – you can bind it; you can fold the hem over, secure it with stitching and then add a tape-over to straighten it (see my previous article on how to make a walking dress ). You can use a facing too. Here, I simply folded the allowance under, basted it and then, on the right side, sewed on the velvet ribbon. A tape stitched to the inside hides the machine stitches and protects the hem too.

1. Finish the interior seams – trim them, making sure the lining seams are shorter. Secure the seam allowances with small stitches, sewing them open, to the lining

inside of the kirt – mark the finish of the seams and hem

1. The skirt is now ready.

The overskirt.

The front part.

1. Cut out the piece in top fabric and lining. Assembly will depend upon the amount of time and the kind of fur available. With ready trim, either hem the piece, stitch the trim on and then add the lining, or, do it all in one go, treating the fur trim like a piping. This can be tricky, but saves time . If you are working using fur trim cut out from a plate, baste the two layers first and then bind them using the fur strip as binding.

‘piping’ the apron piece with the fur trim

1. Mark and sew the darts

and the front is ready!

The back piece.

1. Mark the position of the ribbon trims, (or use your machine’s guidelines). Sew the 3 rows of ribbon trim.

1. Hem the piece

1. Stitch the fur trim onto the hem. Pin the lining and sew it alongside the fur trim.

1. Again, if using fur strips from plates, binding the piece will be easier and less time-consuming.

Pleat the panel and to the desired width and pin it onto the waistband. Pin the front piece onto the waistband – it should overlap at the sides. Try it on a dummy to see if the overlap is sufficient.

Adjust as necessary, and sew the waistband on in the same way as you did the skirt’s waistband

waistband inserted, secuing it on the inside this time by machine

All you need to do now is to finish your overskirt is to add the decoration – but that can wait until you have bodice made, as it is then easier to judge the best position for the bows. Here shown already decorated

 Bodice.

Pattern – again, I simply adapted my template bodice pattern by making it slightly longer in front, and adding a bit of fullness at panel 2 to mirror the shape on the fashion plate. The back pieces are substantially longer and flare quite dramatically . Neckline was adapted too.

Normally I would have made a mock up, but with the time constraint I decided to risk it – after all I know the pattern fits me well as I have made a few bodices based on it – so in theory it would be fine!  Still, if you have time – do make a mock up…..

1. Cut out the pieces in top fabric and lining. Pin or baste the wool and lining pieces together – if authenticity is not a priority, you can overlock (serge) the pieces – much easier to work with and will save you hours of hand finishing the seams.

1. Pin  and sew the front darts

1. Assemble to bodice – sew the front piece to the side, then add side back (leave the seam from the waist to the hem open between the side-front and side-back panels) and back. Repeat on the other side and lastly, sew the two halves together at the back-centre seam.
2. Sew the shoulder seams. The mini bodice is now assembled

1. Try it on. There is still time to check the fit, and make adjustments. In my case it was evident that the front darts were too short – and the shoulder seam needed taking in.

trying the bodice on – the darts are too short – you can see the wrinkling clearly.

back looking good, though the back seem needs to have waistline lowered by about half inch

1.   Once that was sorted I only needed to reduce the flare in the front panels at the hem – just half an inch  less did the trick

darts and shoulder sorted, no horizontal wrinkling!

taking in the excess fullness

1. Once satisfied with the fit, press the seams open (if your fabric allows for it!) and you can start working on the sleeve. I did cut mine with a loose fitted cuff and pinned it on my arm to make sure that it looked correct

1. Sew the sleeve parts together along the back seam. Before you sew it to the front one, sew the ribbon decoration onto the cuff – this is much easier than dealing with a closed sleeve!

working on the sleeve’s cuff

1. Decoration on, complete assembling the sleeve. Pin it into the arms, matching the back seams, and ease it in. (you can do that after decorating the bodice itself – easier to manoeuvre the bodice without the sleeves!)

sleeve ready to be inserted into the bodice

1. Bodice decoration – apply the ribbon trim to the required parts of the bodice.The original here didn’t have any ribbon on the front part – since I had some left over ribbon at that point, I added it there too. Next, add the fur trim.

1. The front part – I simply bound the front edge in silk velvet strip.
2. The mock vest – this step can be skipped if you plan to wear a blouse or a chemisette underneath. I had just about sufficient scraps of silk taffeta and decided to go for it.
3. Trace the shape of the piece onto a scrap of calico and adapt it until you get a result you are happy with – I used 2 calico mock ups to arrive at the piece with a collar pointing downwards.

working on the false vest insert

1. Cut your pieces in silk – you will need 4. Sew them with right sides together, alongside the collar edge. Trim seams allowances, turn inside out, and press. Apply ribbon to your liking

1. Before you mount the piece onto the bodice, finish the neckline of the bodice – hem it, and apply the fur trim. Add fur onto the cuffs too.
2. Pin the insert in and stitch it in place. Try it on to see if the position is satisfactory, and whether you need to put in hooks and eyes. Trying to emulate the original, I also added a wide ribbon trim going from the shoulder to the centre front, with a bow conveniently hiding the hook and eye closure.

1. Add lace frill if desired.

1. Next step – add buttons and buttonholes, or settle for hook and eye closures.  I admit I did neither – since  the straight stitch machine doesn’t do buttonholes and I had no time to stitch them by hand, I settled for buttons and hidden loops – once I have my proper machine back,  (or more time on my hands to fiddle with hand stitched buttonholes), I will remove the loops.  It will also make the jacket a little better fitted)
2. Finishing the seams – unless you have overlocked them, you now need to deal with the insides of the jacket – as I bet it is looking pretty messy!  Trim the lining seam allowances, as you did with the skirt, and then shape the top fabric allowances to reduce bulk, then finish the seams by hand.   Armholes – trim and bind in cotton tape

1. Make boning channels out of tape ( or, if your seam allowances are big enough, you can actually place  your bones inside  the seam allowance and stitch it closed – (a good post of that by Historical sewing – http://historicalsewing.com/boning-in-bustle-bodices), insert the bones and secure the boning to their corresponding seams

1. Stitch your waist tape to the centre back, and to the seams, over the boning – it will reduce pull on the buttons.

waist stay ( opted for a fancy one! being secured

Last thing to do – decorations!

Put the whole ensemble onto a dummy and plan the decoration placement.

I had sufficient buttons to go on the apron front and lots of bows made out of double-sided ribbon to go on the bodice and overskirt

How to make bows – beautifully explained here (http://historicalsewing.com/how-to-make-ribbon-bows-for-victorian-costumes).

Stitch on the decoration , and you are done!

finishing touches…

Now, only a muff, hat, gloves – and we are ready for a winter outing. Alas, no skating – the ice rink at the event turned out to be a tiny affair with plastic ice. I tried it out on Saturday with a friend, and my skates did manage a bit of a glide, but the ones for hire there were hopeless – plus, the plastic ice was sticky.

We just took a few pictures and decided to have a proper skating photo-shoot later on in the winter, on real ice.  So instead, it was promenading on the lovely grounds -:-)

 Conclusion.

Things to change – make a better hat, for once.  I have also learnt that the ready made fur trim is stiff and that stiffness translates onto the garment. Next time, I will save for a few high quality plates and work with them to achieve a wider and softer trim.

The skirts – looking at the pictures the lines are not exactly right – the original’s overskirt is a bit more slanted. Easy to remedy though – will fiddle with the length of the pieces at the waistband as indicated on the pattern.

Working with wool – sheer pleasure. It is the second Victorian outfit I have done in wool and I love it. It doesn’t fray, has just a little tiny bit of stretch in it to make fitting easy and wrinkle – free, and is a pleasure to wear too.

hope you enjoyed the post:-)

and a few   more pictures from the day – the place was a heaven for photographers!

As Halloween was approaching and I noticed a few bits of non historical fabrics in my store room, an idea was hatched – we will do some Halloween photography! We mentioned the idea to a friend at one of the markets, and she volunteered lending us some of her corsets for it. we mentioned it on facebook and withing minutes we had more contributors and models agreed on, and time set asid e for some Halloween/Goth/Victoriana fun.

We started with an organic look for a pumpkin queen – my Spring Petal Dress  had a remake ( a brief encounter with spray paint), and after an afternoon of drilling and carving the pumpkins ( the jigsaw power tool was perfect for it!) we were ready…

petal dress before spraying…

and after…

pumpkin carving!

the first one done….

and on the day we prepared the set for the Pumpkin Queen in the nearby woods… the results below:-)

Next day was the big day! our make up artist, Sammm Agnew arrived just after noon, and the models, Gem and Hannah followed shortly after.

My workroom was transformed into a make up and hair styling centre…

preparations..

and we  shot several different looks around the house…  the results below – wherever possible I provided inks directly to the products featured as many of the items are actually available to purchase straight away :-)

Meet  The Broken Doll…. Hannah looked fantastic with  the blue hair! She is wearing a silk skirt by Prior Attire, and a lovely underbust corset by Wyte Phantom..

Innocence Tainted –  Gem is wearing a silk  skirt and a corset by Prior Attire… Head by Samm Agnew!

Victoriana – the ladies of the night;-)

The girls are sporting Victorian attires – the purple one  has sold already, but the chocolate pumpkin one is still available here  

Pumpkin corset – Hanna had a quick transformation and here is sporing a silk corset with black lace decoration from Prior Attire matched with a black skirt

Demon Bride – Gem had a go at the wedding dress that got damaged in the fire – with a festive spray of blood….

and then got quickly  into this stunning piece by Wyte Phantom

Even our MUA  vamped out her make up , donned a lovely corset ( again, Wyte Phantom) and a skirt ( Prior Attire) and jumped in front of the camera

and after having my face and hair transform to fit with Vampish Gothic criteria, I joined her:-) The overskirt, corset and posture collar by Wyte Phantom, flouncy skirt  ( sold already, sorry….) and the fascinator by Prior Attire

and that was it for one long day – but it was not all! 2 days later lovely Miss Lilian Love joined us for a classy corsetry shoot –  and in one evening we shot  some more Halloween stuff and some elegant vintage inspired stuff with superb corsets from Clessidra ( there will be a separate post on that, here’s a teaser)

and the Halloween stuff -

again, we put Lilian in the Wyte Phantom  corset and a Prior Attire skirt

and another plunge corset by Wyte Phantom, matching fascinator by Prior Attire

As you can see, it was a lot of fun ( tiring, but fun!) and that was not the end of it –   the following weekend saw us at a Halloween ball from which I had a very special creation – but that  a topic for another post! :-)

Credits:

Make up and hair – Sammm Agnew

Clothes –  Wyte Phantom, Clessidra, Prior Attire

models – Gem and Hanna Bow, Miss Lilian Love,

photography – Pitcheresque Imagery

I have never actually been to a proper Halloween Party, but this year we were seduced into attempting one. Admittedly most of the seduction was done by the location – we have been to Gosfield Hall before, to shoot our Summer Bride collection last year – and loved it! So the tickets were bought, and since it was Lucas’ birthday on the 1st, I treated us, as a surprise, to securing the sumptuous Bridal Suite for our stay.

And with a venue like that and  lodgings dripping with gold, I obviously needed suitably splendid attire….

Fortunately I had a cunning plan – I have designed the Batdress   several months ago, a spur of the moment thing,  and then was lucky enough to get a bargain fabric –  15m of crushed silk velvet – useless for historical outfits, but perfect for a bit of Halloween fancy dress.

The original sketch,

and a work in progress sketch – yep, that’s how I make skirts and gauge how much fabric  to use…

the foundations first – a cage crinoline, mid Victorian design, and a muslin petticoat from one of our bridal frocks….

then the skirt….

The corset was a bit of a challenge – because it was to be worn over a crinoline and not  underneath, it had to be much shorter, allowing for the skirts to billow up. As a result, it turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable  wear:-)

The corset used plain coutil as a strength layer,  tape castings for channels and cotton for lining. Decoration – silver and black lace appliques, silver thread flossing and red beads.

insides before fitting in the lining

close up of the lace

decoration complete

The overskirt/wings were made of the same fabric and lined with faux duponi silk from James Hare – and boned with thin metal flat steel.

other accessories included these..

Once the dress was done, I have 6 hours to make something more before we hit the road – and in a mad rush I made another corset, satin and calico , with lace and silk tulle decoration:-), styled for a Bridal vampiric  look…

The plan was to arrive early and shoot the bridal stuff first, then change and have fun in the Bat dress. alas, we underestimated the traffic – Friday, end of half term, halloween – we were stuck on the motorway for  much too long. as a result, we arrived in time to get ready, but not to shoot the bridal stuff – that will have to be done the following morning!

We were surprised , very pleasantly, by a nice card and a bottle of white wine awaiting us in the suite – a present from our friend Eleanor, who was also attending the party! :-)

not a good picture, but captures the grin… and the room….

Before the party a girl needs to relax –  a bath and a face mask was in order. Lucas did have a bit of a shock when i joked I could go to the party wearing this….

but at last the clothes were on, make up and hair was done and we could take a few pictures….

The event was very atmospheric – an amazing singer in one room, roast boar dinner and a cobweb covered pianist playing tunes from the Phantom of the Opera in the other, fireworks outside – amazing!

apart from relaxing, eating and enjoying ourselves, we did take more pictures  at the end of the night….

Batdress in its full glory

and one from the end of the night…. corset undone, hair loose – and yet it worked too :-)

as to the question i was asked a few times at the party – how do you go to the loo in that?

well, the answer is simple – wear split drawers ( or none….) and go in forward….

In the morning we got up early and  shot the Dracula’s bride styling – corset with lace, with a scrap of lace as a headdress, my bridal veil and a silk chiffon skirt….

nom nom nom

we were having so much fun we almost missed breakfast – as a result i rushed downstairs half dressed – don’t think many people minded though – the corset looked great with jeans too!

I must admit I loved wearing the Batdress – but it was a one off and is going to be put on sale ( though not before we shoot it somewhere else – the original idea was a forest or a cemetery), just like the bridal corset – no doubt next year I will come up with a different kit: – )

hope you enjoyed the madness – we did, and are planning more Halloween outings in the future!

Over the last few years I had a few people asking me about doing costuming as a business – and since in the last 3 months I have had several graduates and future entrepreneurs ask me the very same questions again and again, I have decided to deal with them  in one place – so that everybody who thinks of operating a business can benefit.

Just a short background note first – I am a self-taught costumier – my adventure started in 1997 or so, after spending a summer with historical interpreters from Past Pleasures.   I first made a few medieval things for myself for a Christmas party of my group (I was taught the basics of sewing at school and my mum ), and although the garments were, to be honest, quite horrid, I soon had friends and other members of the club asking me to make them kit too.

Within a few years, I made loads of outfits for friends and re-enactors, and after 3 years of serious stitching and even more serious research and costume education, I had a side business established, adding a few good zloties ( I still lived in Poland at that time) to my normal income.  For 5 years I run it with a friend, making mostly medieval  clothing for clients in Poland, Scandinavia, France and Italy.

early days, working with my partner at an event

When I moved to the UK in 2005, I had to start anew, more or less – and the first year or two I spent most of my professional time working, teaching in the colleges, getting more teaching qualification etc. But then I got the bug again, and started attending more events, and as a result, was asked for more kit.

my first outfits. urgghhrr!!!!

Prior Attire was born in 2009 – as a supplementary 1 woman business.  In 2010 I was able to switch the college workload a bit, and work 80% – leaving Friday and the whole weekend to costuming and teaching the rest of the days. In November 2011 I left the college stint for good – and never looked back…  It hasn’t been easy but since then I am usually fully booked up 3-6 months ahead, sometimes more – and although I do work more hours than ever, it is worth it!

If it all looks great and peachy for you – well, don’t be deceived. It does take years to establish a good customer base, find a niche in the market, and invest your time, money, resources… I am doing the job I love, and am quite good at (false modesty aside), but it was not an easy path – and it not so easy to maintain and grow either….

Still, hope this helps a bit – find below the questions I am asked most often:

* Had you already done a lot of work before you started bespoke historical costuming?

Yes.  Yes. Yes. – as mentioned above I was sewing  for years before I was able to dedicate my career to costuming entirely. It helps if you can phase it out, but it usually takes years. Work also means research – and when I was starting research meant actually going to museums, travelling to other countries to trawl the libraries, galleries etc. Nowadays, with the internet it is much easier!

*How do you advertise and get clients?

You can advertise on Facebook (not worth it), google adverts, magazines, fora, etc. Not really sure how effective that is – for me the greatest advertisement proved to be – well, wearing my work!  Due to my academic background, I am also an interpreter, and I wear historical costume for work. Seeing the clothes worn, on a person, is one of the best adverts you can get, in my experience – be it at an event, or a market, a gown on a person is much more interesting than a small add in a magazine.

And the same goes for my clients – 70 % of my customers founds their way to me via word of mouth – usually seeing my work on another client.

Professional social media and internet presence is essential too – that’s the rest of the customers accounted for, mostly.

a happy client is your best asset!

 Do you work by yourself?

Yes, I am a 1 woman business. I have a loving and long suffering husband who helps at the market (he possesses much better people skills than I do!), but apart from that, all I do is just me and my needle pricked fingers!

 Do you work normal 9-5 hours?

Ha!  Nope.  My normal working day may start more or less at 9, but it does not finish at 5 – I do take breaks for lunch, to go training in the evening, etc, but it is often that I am still doing some stitching at 11pm, watching a telly or playing scrabble.

Weekends – yep, same applies.  In fact I do need to plan my holidays better – in the last 3 years I had much less holiday than the national quota…..

I do like keeping busy though and cannot imagine it any other way – but you will need to manage your time efficiently (see my article on that here)

Did you research the market first?

Not much – as I started by making clothes for myself, to be able to work as an interpreter and for living history demonstrations, the market research was done more or less on the go. You do learn what people need and how much they are willing to pay for it if you are a part of the community – the basic supply and demand laws of economics apply. You might be making lovely Viking dresses, but if people don’t need them, you won’t make much profit! But if you have a particular product or line in mind – yes, market research is essential.  Learn what events are popular, what periods, and how it works with your area of expertise. I would love to make more late 17^th century mantuas – but there is scarcely any demand for them as there are almost no big events in UK for this period – so it doesn’t matter if my mantuas are exceptional pieces, if people don’t have a reason to wear them, they won’t buy them.

Still, I made one just for fun…. just in case, you never know…. :-)

*How big was your profit in the first year? (Yes, people do ask that!!)

To be honest, forget about any profit for the first few years at the very least. For me, whatever I earned that didn’t go towards taxes, bills, living expenses etc, was spent right back on improving the business – getting more stock, making more samples, getting better websites, banners, courses, books. If you are after a quick profit, well, that is not the business for it, it seems! It does get better though, as you are becoming more established – I can now afford occasional treats now… ( read – more silks….) ;-0

silks!!!!!!

 Who are your customers?

Mostly re-enactors, historical interpreters, both professional, part time or hobbyists, museums, heritage sites, event companies; less often film and theatre; brides and Steampunk crowd. Really varies!

providing costume and working as an extra for Horrible Histories

 How to you work out the pricing?

There are many ways to do it, but the general thing is – make sure you charge what is right for you – he cost of the material, the cost of time, research etc.  Remember that undercharging just so that you get a sale is not a good strategy – neither is overcharging. If you are an artist and price your items as unique masterpieces – be prepared to earn like one –  and yes, from time to time there will be a person who would pay several thousands of pounds of a dress just because it has your name on it. But this is not a reliable income that would pay your mortgage and bills…. If you are in a happy situation that you don’t need to rely on your business to survive, that’s great – but very few of us are!

Generally my prices are mid-range – I don’t really do cheap stuff, and people who expect to pay £20 for a corset or £100 for a dress are simply not my clients. If I accepted such prices, I wouldn’t even begin paying up the costs of the materials in some cases, let alone time and profit!  I sell off the peg items cheaper than bespoke – I didn’t have to go through the measuring, consultation, fittings etc process – so they took much less time. Bespoke stuff is more expensive – but then you get a much personalised item – by prices can be found on my website, if you want to get a feeling for it.

It is really  important  to learn to work fast and precise. Not in a hurry, mind you – but if you take months to finish one dress, it won’t pay your bills. But with experience, you will be able to speed the process up with no loss of quality – my first bustle cage took me over a day, as I was puzzling out the construction, playing with design and pattern. Half a year later and a few cages more, I was able to make one in 6 hours. Nowadays I make one in just under 2 hours, maybe 3 is it is a fancy one – mostly because I know the process so well and don’t think to ponder on what goes where…

*Do I need to do my own marketing?

Hell yes…. As mentioned before, you need to be visible – have a separate page, website, Instagram account, update it often, learn Facebook algorithms to manage the reach of the posts – and yes, it does take time, and yes it is a part of the job.  Set up promotional photo shoots, invest in making showpieces – it all pays up. When I was developing the bridal side of the business we set up 4 seasonal photo shoots in one year – I made about 20 gowns for these, in between work on historical items. It was an investment – in time, resources, fabric, organizing the shoots around the country, finding models MUAs, and photographers – and it was worth it.  Most samples sold anyway, and the commissions I got on the strength of mu portfolio paid up more than once over the original investment.

At the same time – do not go over the top and over market – There is nothing more irritating than a stating company who is trying to sell in an overaggressive manner.  Steady, moderate and tasteful – yes, loud, in-your-face, incessant – not so much…

outtake shoot from our first bridal collection and fashion show at Harrowden, 2012

*Do I need to have contracts etc?

Absolutely. Contracts protect you and the customer alike – they specify what is to be made, the deadline, the fittings, pricing, deposit, all terms and conditions.  And yes, especially important when making stuff for friends. Always specify the non-refundable deposit (either a percentage of the labour prices, or the cost of fabrics etc) – if the client defaults, you will at least have something, as it may be too late to book another customer in the suddenly vacant plot. Also specify payment options and what happens to unpaid/uncollected items.

Remember the contract binds you too – so make sure to allow for enough time to make the garment…. It doesn’t matter if you produce a fantastic Victorian gown two weeks after the ball the client needed it for – they won’t be coming back to you, and will make sure their friends don’t either.

working on the set of Horrible Histories

  Some general points and advice…

*quality – goes without saying, strive for the best you can do. Always. and be proud of what you make –  don’t cut corners on fabrics, styles etc if you don’t have to –  well made outfit in quality materials will bring you more customers. A poorly made one, or one that sports inferior fabrics, finish or fit will most likely lose you some potential business.

*communicate – make a point of answering emails in a timely manner, keep people informed about the development, and if you have a problem – talk about it. It won’t go away just because you are ignoring the messages, phone calls etc. deal with it. Be reliable, finish things in time – the reputation for reliability will be crucial in obtaining new customers.

*Mistakes – accept that you will make them. Everybody does. So be prepared to deal with them and learn from them. If it means that you need to start stitching anew, and buy an extra length of fabric out of your own pocket – so be it, shit happens. You will remember next time.

* Don’t stop learning. Ever. There is always something new to learn, a new technique to muster, more in-depth research to do, a new pattern to develop. Don’t accept that this is it, you have made it and know it all, no need for more learning. As you learn, your skills will improve alongside with your reputation. I think we have all been there – we look at an outfit we made a few years ago, and we thought then it was brilliant, the pinnacle of our achievement – and yet now you see how much better you are able to make things now. I look at my past garments and cringe – there is always something I now know I could have done better! But that’s ok, next time I do similar style, I will make it ever more perfect.

Read articles, go on courses, watch how to videos on youtube even – and experiment. It is time well spent.

learning corsetry …

*invest in good quality.  Good quality sewing equipment, good quality fabrics, boning etc – it will pay off.

my two sewing machines…. love them!

* manage your time to avoid procrastination, digressions and distractions. Plan for every outfit commissioned, and plan well in advance.

notes on the timing – how long it takes to make one item

planning – in the calendar and working out components and time necessary for an order

* It helps if you have a unique product you want to sell. But remember that may not be enough.  Also, if your product is not unique but your service is (you deliver on time, exceptional quality, etc) – it will work too!

* if you are an introvert, like me, markets, networking etc will be double hard. I am lucky in having my hubby  to share the workload at the markets, but even then it takes me days to recover !  Still, it has to be done – but try and share your work at markets with a friend, spouse - or hire help, if necessary. Dealing with people is necessary – sometimes fun, sometimes hard work – but it is people who buy your products, so treat them right!

* be flexible. Some years you will find demand for different items is greater -  the last few years it was mostly Regency, Titanic and WWI era – because there are events planned to go wth the anniversaries. It meant I had to do more research on those periods, play with patterns and invest in shoots, etc – but it is worth it.  I would never have thought that in the last few months our greatest earner would be a Victorian and 1914 style corsetry – but hey, so it is. No doubt a few years on, something else will be in fashion, and more research and learning will be needed – but hey, that’s fun!

our bestsellers:-)

*Network.  work together with other people in the industry – help them out, learn from them, enjoy working together.

*Have fun – don’t forget you started your business because you wanted to do what you love doing. Yes, it may take a few years when you may be stuck doing 50 boring shirts – but this is your bill money. In time you will be able to choose the commissions you want to do, but before that simply award yourself by working on private projects – make a gown you always wanted to make , spend a day or two just on lace making, embroidery, simply re-affirm your love for the craft.  If you have made a gown of your dreams, wear it – have a photo shoot in it, go to a ball in it, invite friends for a tea in kit !It will keep you motivated and keep the costuming joy going.

Do comment if you have any other questions you’d like answered!

And if you want a more in depth information on all the aspect of running a creative business – check this little book, Craft a Creative Business by Fiona Pullen. It covers all the basics and more in an accessible way, presents you with a nicely develop points and business strategy and offers invaluable advice on marketing, legal matters, planning –   a must to read!

I have never done a proper  day 1860 kit before –  yes, did ballgowns and bridal versions, but not day dresses – and not for me!  I didn’t actually need one either, but when I saw that wool it just screamed late 50ties, early 60ties to me – and my will power failed me. I got the wool and put it in the fabric shed…

Over the next few months I  acquired a crinoline cage and experimented with the corsetry for the era too….

Still, I was too busy dealing with commissions and stock items, so the project, and the fabric was still waiting. Then we decided to go to St. Audries Park  ball –  and I was kicked into a whirl of activity The venue is amazing ( indeed it is our wedding venue, and we held a short bridal shoot there too), and since we could all arrive early in the afternoon, we decided it would be a perfect place to shoot some Victorian frockage – the 1860 one included:-)

No time to rework the corsets, and since we would be shooting other eras,  I decided to save time needed to swap corsetry and stay in my 1880 corset – it did provide the right shape, as it turned out.

What I did need was a proper petticoat…. 6m of cotton and tedious pink tucks sewing, the petticoat was ready :-)

detail of the pintucks and lace – and the inevitable moggy under the crinoline….

I was happy with that -time for the skirts….

Not too difficult a job, though it needed a lot of seams – the fabric I had was vintage and narrow….

80cm wide…

lots of hemming and pleating was done, and the hem was decorated with a wide velvet ribbon  in deep olive …

Bodice next – I didn’t have a pattern, and so based mine on original items found online ( my pinterest board is here), cross – referenced with pattern diagrams from Jean Hunnisett.

Mock up being more or less shaped – just getting the seam placements here, I did the detailed shaping on myself wearing a corset…

Once that was done, it was time to cut the fabric and lining….

and stitch the thing up.

The seams are boned, turned to the side and secured. the edges are faced with the same fabric

The sleeves were a modest pagoda style, trimmed with the olive velvet ribbon and a pleated satin ribbon on the inside of the cuffs.   Buttons were a nice eBay find – a velvet covered metal buttons, vintage :-)

Chemisette with a plain collar and undersleeves with lawn and lace were next…

close up on the sleeves – work in progress

and then, there was the bonnet – a spoon straw bonnet from Dressing History, trimmed with the following:

1 inside – a lawn lining and a cotton lace ruffle, paper and silk flowers

2. outside – combination of velvet ribbon, satin ribbon and pleated satin ribbon…. edges and bavolet in silk taffeta

The stockings and shoes from American Duchess  :-),  chemise in cotton and split drawers in cotton too –  and am wearing my corset in silk taffeta

oops!

The result – well, I was amazed at how fetching the style was – I looked positively sweet, a perfect disguise for my somewhat grumpy personality ( and a grumpy mood on the day as I was suffering from a nasty cold) – must the be hat;-)

It was a fun style to wear and something tells me I am not done with the 1860ties yet! :-)

The photos by Pitcheresque Imagery, and the dress etc by Prior Attire

hope you like it!